Three men who were arrested during a 2024 raid of a large, unlicensed cannabis facility in the Niagara Falls region were granted conditional discharges in an Ontario court on May 1.

The raid in April 2024 involved Ontario Provincial Police’s Joint Forces Cannabis Enforcement Team seizing more than 15,000 cannabis plants and charging six following a search warrant execution in Niagara Falls.

OPP said they began their investigation after a strong smell of cannabis was noted outside a warehouse on Don Murie Street in Niagara Falls.

Police seized more than 2,500 clone cannabis plants, and more than 13,000 vegetative and mature budding cannabis plants.

The six charged were: Chamrong Ladadas, 49, of no fixed address; Arthit Seesai, 31, of no fixed address; Xueqi Gao, 59, of no fixed address; Li Cheng, 58, of no fixed address; Jeffrey Lian, 41, of no fixed address; and Wen Guang Zheng, 66, of Markham.

In court in St. Catharines, ON., on May 1, 2025, Arthit Seesai, Xueqi Gao and Jeffrey Lian pleaded guilty to a charge of cultivating cannabis without authorization against federal law. 

The three men’s lawyer argued they were only workers who tended to the plants, rather than connected to the ownership of the operation, reported the Niagara Falls Review.

The ongoing investigation involved the OPP’s West Region Emergency Response Team, Urban Search and Rescue, Chemical, Biological, Radioactive, Nuclear and Explosive Response Team, Provincial Asset Forfeiture Unit, and Niagara Regional Police.