The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, Aug. 9, edition that an organized crime group north of Toronto manipulated Canada's medical marijuana system to produce thousands of pot plants for the black market as part of an operation that financed the production of synthetic drugs, police alleged Thursday. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe reports that York Regional Police said they seized more than half a tonne of cannabis along with a cornucopia of other drugs in a year-long investigation into an alleged Asian drug ring in Vaughan, Ont., that led to charges against more than 40 people. Detective Sergeant Doug Bedford said: "Project Moon demonstrates the need for these investigations to continue and how organized crime has manipulated and adapted to the current laws in Canada. There is evidence of this group fraudulently obtaining licences to produce cannabis through Health Canada." The group allegedly bought or leased legitimate medical marijuana licences and pooled them together, Det. Sgt. Bedford explained. It exploited the medical marijuana regime in place before recreational cannabis was legalized last fall that allows licence holders to grow significantly more plants for personal use.