Illegal pot farm busted with $12,000,000 in cannabis plants in St. Catharines: police

Two people are facing charges after police say thousands of illegal cannabis plants worth nearly $12 million were found near St. Catharines.

The OPP says officers from the Joint Forces Cannabis Enforcement Team along with officers from the Niagara Regional Police Service searched a cannabis facility on Third Ave. in Louth on May 6.

Police say the facility was licensed to produce less than 1,000 cannabis plants but officers found more than 11,800 plants during the raid.

Officers also seized some 77 kilograms or nearly 170 pounds of cannabis shake.

Two days later police searched a nearby residence and several vehicles and say two people living at the home were arrested.

Rodolfo Ramirez, 40, and Gervi Santamaria, 25, have both been charged with cultivating cannabis without authorization.

The accused were remanded into custody pending future appearances at the Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines. None of the allegations have been proven in court.