New Meaning to Athletic Doping

ATHENS (Reuters) - The Olympic flame, a symbol of peace meant to bring the world together ahead of the Games, became an instrument of crime busting when a police helicopter accompanying it on the island of Crete spotted cannabis farms.

"The police helicopter was accompanying the flame on its journey, patrolling the skies above the actual torch relay route, when they spotted a cannabis farm near the town of Rethymnon," said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Public Order.

"They decided to stay and investigate, and eventually spotted other farms in remote areas outside the towns of Heraklion and Rethymnon with a total of around 7,000 cannabis plants, which is quite a good haul," she added.

The torch, now in the last phase of its tour around Greece, will arrive at the main Olympic stadium in Athens to light the cauldron and open the Games on August 13.

Its $45 million journey around the world has had all the hallmarks of a presidential tour with security, surveillance, motorcades, cheering crowds and a specially chartered jumbo jet, dubbed Zeus.