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6 charged in ‘complex’ cannabis production and distribution network in Ontario

On Thursday, March 27, 2025, the Ontario RCMP announced charges against six individuals and the destruction of nearly 17,000 cannabis plants seized from three large-scale illegal grow sites in Ontario.
An investigation that began in the summer of 2022, after the Ontario Provincial Police referred the matter to the Mounties, revealed that these grow sites were part of a "complex illicit cannabis production and distribution network".
The illegal grow sites were staffed with full-time, live-in workers without legal status to grow cannabis in Canada, and the RCMP estimates their annual production value could exceed $16 million.
Police allege the suspects fraudulently applied for Health Canada authorizations using stolen identities in order to produce medicinal cannabis, and five individuals, Shao Bo 'Barry' Xie , Feng Gao , Shan 'Sam' Gao , Xu Han , and Fang Han , are facing charges related to unlawful cultivation and conspiracy to sell cannabis, while Zdena 'Denise' Mesko , from Sarnia, faces charges of identity theft.
The criminal network allegedly exported illicit cannabis to the United States and Hong Kong, with plans to expand to Europe, and laundered millions of dollars in profits through the Canadian banking system using a sophisticated identity fraud scheme, while also being linked to two other dismantled illicit cannabis production sites in Ontario.

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