Winnipeg police busted a $1.5 million marijuana grow-op in the city's Lindenwoods neighbourhood on Thursday.

Officers executed a search warrant at a home in the 100 block of Castlebury Court, uncovering more than 1,300 marijuana plants, 8 kilograms of packaged marijuana and about $1,150 of Canadian currency.

Const. Jason Michalyshen said neighbours tipped off police.

“A lot of times these individuals are bypassing power,” he said.

“They are bypassing the hydro meter a lot of times. They are comprising a lot of the electrical within the house.”

Area resident Hugh Swan said his neighbour alerted him to a strong smell coming from the house and an ice build up on the chimney.

“I met these people. They moved in in the summer, but you hardly ever saw them,” said Swan.

Swan said the blinds in the house were always closed.

He said he saw officers descend on the house Thursday night.

“There were two or three big vans and the police cars, and they were banging and crashing,” said Swan.

“They were offloading a whole bunch of stuff from the house."

Inside, according to Michalyshen, a massive amount of drugs.

“Definitely a huge, huge very sophisticated multi-stage grow-operation,” said Michalyshen.

“And in an area where people don’t necessarily suspect grow operations would be.”

A 41-year-old woman and 55-year-old man are facing numerous drug-related offences in connection with the bust.

Task force works to identify grow-op homes

Peter Squire works with Manitoba's Real Estate Association task force. The group focuses on identifying homes that were once grow-ops and are now back on the housing market.

Squire said current standards allow some homes that were previously used for grow ops to go up for sale without being properly restored. The group is hoping to change that.

“The ones that we’re worried about are where it wasn’t disclosed, and there are still issues they have to deal with,” said Squire.

He said mould can be a major issue for homes previously used as grow ops.