Prosecutors have abandoned an appeal against four Asian men who were acquitted of drug charges laid in Whitehorse, because no one knows where the men are.

Prosecutor John Phelps told the Yukon Court of Appeal Tuesday "the whereabouts of all the respondents are unknown to the RCMP."

Crown lawyers are unable to serve the respondents with appeal documents, so the case cannot proceed, said Phelps.

In its appeal, the Crown was arguing territorial court Judge Karen Ruddy made a mistake when she threw out a bunch of evidence after she found legal problems with the search warrant.

Wei Xiong Wen, Zhu Dong Liang, Kiu Tin Yeung, Wei Min Zhai, Guang Xian Zhu, Jian Xiong Zhou, Kwok Yiu Cheung and Min Shan Jian were arrested and charged in September 2005 in connection with the largest marijuana grow operation ever seen in the Yukon.

The men were charged with producing marijuana, possession of marijuana for trafficking and stealing thousands of dollars' worth of electricity.

Whitehorse RCMP officers "developed suspicions regarding possible marijuana grow operations in several Whitehorse residences" in the summer of 2005, according to territorial court Judge Karen Ruddy's 83-page written decision from April 2007.

Approximately 4,600 marijuana plants were seized from several homes in Copper Ridge in September 2005.

The estimated value of the unharvested plants was between $2 million and $5 million, depending on whether the drug would have been sold in bulk or by the joint.

Ruddy also noted in her decision that the men were using very high amounts of electricity and that "120 marijuana clone plants (were) growing under two four-foot fluorescent light fixtures" in a bedroom in one of the residences at the time of the raid.

Four of the men pleaded guilty to marijuana production and received sentences.

All other charges in the case were dismissed, due to problems with police procedures during the bust.

In her written decision, Ruddy said "it is my final determination ... that any and all evidence from the warrantless search of (one of the residences) must be excluded."

Ruddy also found fault with Cpl. Thomas Wyers, one of the RCMP officers on the scene during the arrests.

Ruddy wrote that during the investigation, Wyers edited "the notes of other officers and selectively omitted references detracting from his theory of a grow operation."

Ruddy referred to this behaviour as "both careless and reckless."

In an interview this morning, Crown counsel Noel Sinclair said "the negatives are that we're not able to conclude the appeal.

"The positive side is we have thousands and thousands of dollars' worth of grow equipment seized from six houses in Whitehorse.

"A major grow enterprise has been shut down," he said.