POT BUSTS WITH A MILITARY FLAIR

Oceanside RCMP and members of other Central Island detachments teamed up
with three Canadian Forces Gryphon helicopter crews last week to eradicate
several outdoor marijuana grow sites.

With training for the operation taking place last Monday, the
seek-and-destroy mission itself ran from Tuesday through Friday.

The three helicopters and their crews from CFB Edmonton joined some 60 RCMP
officers from Nanaimo, Oceanside, Courtenay and Campbell River in
destroying over 8,000 marijuana plants in the Central Island, Gulf Islands
and Powell River areas.

"It's a valuable partnership," said Const. Andy Rickaby, who heads up the
RCMP Drug Awareness Service. "The military crews are experts at getting us
into spots that would otherwise be very difficult to get to."

From 1,700 to 2,000 of the plants destroyed were in the
Parksville-Qualicum area, says Rickaby.

"Our sources tell us that the majority of the outdoor pot is destined for
local streets," he said. "So this operation should translate into a
significant reduction in the amount of the drug getting into the hands of
some of our most vulnerable populations, such as our youth."