A 64-year-old farmer who was enlisted to grow marijuana due to his proficiency in growing tomatoes will be sentenced in the new year for his role in a medical marijuana facility that police say grew thousands of plants illegally.
In the early morning hours of Sept. 19, 2016, Niagara Regional Police responded to a robbery which had occurred at a rural home on Pinecrest Road in Port Colborne.
The residents, Peter Muileboom and his wife, told police they had been confronted at gunpoint by a group of masked men who demanded drugs, cash and guns.
Police then discovered the property was being used as licensed medical marijuana facility.
The 2,700-square-metre greenhouse operation, formerly Muileboom Organics, and once backed by former prime minister John Turner, had three medical marijuana licences limiting production to about 400 plants.
Police, however, seized 3,390 marijuana plants in various stages of growth.