-from ifpress.ca-

By Joe Belanger

A man, woman and a 17-year-old male are charged after marijuana, cash found.

A family whose home was invaded last week by attackers arrested at a London mall after a dramatic chase now face drug trafficking charges.

Middlesex OPP said a man and woman, both 35, and a 17-year-old male are charged after police found two kilograms of marijuana and more than $300,000 in cash at their Denfield Road home in Clandeboye, north of London.

They also are charged with possessing the proceeds of crime.

Their names were not released.

Meanwhile, police said they also seized 4.5 kilograms of marijuana taken from the Clandeboye home during the morning invasion on Sept. 19.

“We’re happy to make these arrests,” Middlesex OPP Const. Doug Graham said. “Especially (with) the amount of cash seized, which certainly demonstrates to us this is a major player.”

The names of the man and woman were not released because it could identify the teen, police said.

Graham said the robbery is a clear example that the drug trade and violence are linked.

“It really reinforces the fact that the drug trade is about violence. They live in a violent world, which serves as a warning to our young people not to get involved in that world.”

On Sept. 19, police were called to a home invasion in Clandeboye where a man was beaten by four masked intruders.

A woman and three children in the home were not injured.

The attackers fled in a white car that was soon spotted by police and followed to Masonville Place in London’s north end at Fanshawe Park Road and Richmond Street.

As many as 20 city and OPP cruisers corralled the car in the mall parking lot, then officers chased and arrested three fleeing suspects. A fourth suspect who ran from the scene is still at large.

During the home invasion investigation, the OPP’s drug enforcement section obtained a search warrant for the Denfield home and discovered the cache of drugs and money.

Charged with robbery with a weapon, assault with a weapon, wearing a disguise and possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking are Londoners Eugene Rockwood, 39, Bryce Dayman, 30, and Rodney Brown, 39. Brown also faces a charge of failing to stop for police.

Although the house was not a grow operation, Graham urged the public to keep on the lookout for homes where drugs may be growing, manufactured or sold.

He said marijuana grow operations are often found in rental homes or in outlying areas. Signs of a possible grow operation include:

- Lights on all night.

- A large number of short-term visitors.

- Strange odours.

- Outdoor fires at night.