B.C. GANG VIOLENCE BREAKS OUT IN U.S.

Pot Growers Setting Up In Washington, Officials Say

Drug-enforcement officials in the U.S. say they're seeing a deadly
trend as B.C. bud makes its way into their communities.

In July, two people were shot dead and hundreds of pot plants were
found at a grow operation in Everett, Wash., that had links to B.C.'s
multi-billon-dollar mari-juana industry.

Two weeks ago, another man in the King County area was murdered, a
death also linked to the lucrative B.C. bud business.

Dave Rodriguez of the federally funded Northwest High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Program out of Seattle said his group is bracing for an
escalation of violence as B.C.-based criminals set up operations
across the border.

"This is the first violence associated with these specific indoor grow
operations that are linked to the B.C. bud business," said Rodriguez.
"In 10 years of tracking indoor grow operations, I don't remember any
homicides involved."

Lt. Rich Wiley of Washington State Patrol's narcotics program said
police increasingly face Canadian crooks.

"Growers from [British Columbia] are moving to Washington state and
setting up shop," Wiley told the Everett Herald last week.

"We are ramping up efforts, but more needs to be done. We don't want
the state to turn into B.C."

Two years ago, Rodriguez said, the state and federal drug-enforcement
agencies started to see players behind the B.C. bud industry set up
operations throughout Washington.

"We started noting in 2005 down here that it would only be a matter of
time before we saw the violence," said Rodriguez.

"Now it is here."

In July, Linda Nguyen, 20, and Kevin Meas, 23, were fatally shot in a
home that had 400 marijuana plants. The Everett operation, which had
been under surveillance by drug authorities since June, was believed
to be part of a thriving Seattle-area network of indoor marijuana
operations run by Vietnamese growers, drug officials said.

According to bail hearing records for Saroeun Phai, 24, and Areewa
Saray, 20, the two are under investigation for the slayings of Nguyen
and Meas. Phai, investigators allege, said the two went to the home
with plans on robbing the occupants of thousands of dollars they
believed were hidden in the house.

Prosecutors allege Saray shot Nguyen in the head as she opened the
front door. Meas was found shot to death downstairs.

The defendants could be charged with aggravated murder and, if
convicted, could face the death penalty.

According to a summary of the events by Snohomish County deputy
prosecutor Edirin Okoloko, the victims "were killed in cold blood and
had no chance to defend themselves."

With tighter border controls since the 2001 terrorist attacks, pot
growers are also finding it more difficult to move dope from B.C. to
the States. As a result, Rodriguez said, single-family dwellings in
the suburbs are now used to grow pot.

"[B.C. growers] have decided to expand business down here," he said.
"It's like they are franchising. It is now harder to move B.C. bud
across the border and this may be a way they see to circumvent that.
This is a move so they're closer to the market. There's less risk
factor of not having to get across the border."