BARRHAVEN HOLDS MAJORITY OF GROW-OPS: POLICE

Marijuana Growing Trade Prefers Quiet, Residential
Area

At least 200 marijuana grow operations are active in Ottawa, the
majority in Barrhaven, says the head of the Ottawa police drug unit.

"It's a really big problem. We're addressing it the best we can, with
what we have," Staff Sgt. Pete Gauthier said last night, after
addressing a City Hall public meeting on the problems and efforts to
combat the city's narcotics trade.

Despite decades of enforcement and social programs, Ottawa's street
drug scourge remains vibrant.

In 2007, police executed 66 search warrants on local grow-ops, seizing
marijuana plants with an estimated street value of almost $10 million.

The same year, they confiscated 333 grams of methamphetamine, compared
to a mere 7.2 grams in 2006, and almost 100,000 tablets of ecstasy.

Police believe countless more clandestine grow-ops have been abandoned
because operators fear police may be on to them.

Barrhaven, with its abundance of reasonably priced homes on quiet
residential streets, is now the epi-centre of the capital's marijuana
growing trade. It extends into Kanata and, to a lesser degree, into
Orleans.

"The majority of the grows that we do are in Barrhaven," said Staff
Sgt. Gauthier.

"Newer houses, more houses for sale, newer developments, they really
enjoy those houses. They're looking for fair size houses, preferably a
two maybe even a three story. An unfinished basement is perfect."

Police say organized crime has replaced independent operators as the
prime source of commercial marijuana, often trading the illicit crops
for guns and cocaine from the United States.

While he said the number of local grow-ops have been steady for the
past couple of years, Ottawa remains well behind Toronto, where police
estimated there are 10,000 grow-ops. British Columbia, meanwhile, is
estimated to be home to 20,000.