Four charged after police find 60,000 opium plants in field behind Edmonton home
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EDMONTON – Police have charged four people after 60,000 opium poppy plants were found growing in a field behind a home on the northeast edge of Edmonton.
Officers also found evidence the pink flowering crop was being turned into an analgesic tea powder.
Staff Sgt. Marco Antonio says it’s believed the opium poppy bust in July is the second-largest in Canadian history.
A larger amount was found in a field near Chilliwack, B.C., in 2010.
Police say officers searching the Edmonton property also found doda powder, which is ground from opium pods to be brewed into analgesic tea.
Antonio says it’s believed the powder was being sold on the illicit market.
The accused, between the ages of 30 and 42, are each charged with producing a controlled substance.
Opium poppy plants require special care and take months to grow.
Although not native to North America, police said the plants were found in healthy condition. It’s unclear where the seeds came from to grow the crop.
“Theoretically it could be grown here,” forensic pharmacologist Richelle Booker told a news conference Tuesday.
“(But) it’s against the law, so I would recommend that people don’t do that … it is a Schedule 1 substance, just like heroin, amphetamine and cocaine.”
Milky fluid that the plants secrete can be used to make codeine, morphine and heroin, but police said it appears not to be the case with the Edmonton crop.
Antonio said the plants, with an estimated value of up to $500,000, have been destroyed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 14, 2025.