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.

Police believe the bust in July is the second-largest in Canadian history.

“It was opium poppies that were being grown, which is not typically seen in our country, and the only other time we’ve really come across a commercial-level grow like this was back in 2010 in Chilliwack B.C.,” said Insp. Darrin Gordon with the Edmonton Police Service organized crime branch.

At the acreage near 34 Street and 195 Avenue, police also found additional poppy seeds and evidence the pink flowering crop was being turned into doda powder, which is ground from opium pods to be brewed into analgesic (pain relieving) tea.

Some of the power was found on scene duri

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