North Okanagan

In most cases, busting a marijuana grow operation leads to the discovery of some form of hydro theft devise.

In Vernon on the weekend it was the other way around.

Police in the North Okanagan say they were tipped off to a grow-op at a home on Wilson Jackson Road by BC Hydro.

Hydro contacted police after locating a power diversion and a grow-op while attending to a service call.

About 1,500 plants in various stages of growth were located in the garage and shed.

A 27-year-old man was arrested at the scene.

RCMP spokesman Gord Molendyk says BC Hydro also located a transformer in the shed.

"The transformer was also BC Hydro property and is believed to have been stolen," says Molendyk.

"There were a few tense moments at the property as the owners had a generator on site that came on when the power was turned off. The generator then recharged the power lines."

The suspect was released on a Promise to Appear at a later date on charges of Production of a Controlled Substance, Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking and Theft of Telecommunications.