B.C. 'EXPORTS' MARIJUANA EXPERTISE WORLDWIDE

VANCOUVER - A different kind of brain drain is under way in B.C. as
marijuana growers share their billions of dollars worth of skills with
a worldwide audience.

"We think they're exporting their expertise," said Supt. Paul Nadeau,
director of the RCMP's national drug branch.

"We've heard of it on an international scale."

Supt. Nadeau says he's in regular contact with law enforcement
counterparts in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and all
report breaking up grow-ops with links, either direct or indirect, to
organized crime groups operating in B.C.

Ironically, it's enhanced border security in the post 9/11 U.S. that
is driving the information-sharing and possibly adding an unintended
front to the U.S. "war on drugs."

Why cross the border from Canada with a load of high-grade marijuana
when you can find people willing and schooled in how to grow it for
you in the U.S.? That may be the scenario playing out in a recent
Washington state bust.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officers and police in King County took
down a large grow-op ring three weeks ago, arresting seven people and
seizing an estimated $5 million U.S. worth of marijuana and more than
$250,000 in cash.

"Detectives believe all those houses raided are part of a large,
criminal organization with connections to British Columbia," said Sgt.
John Urquhart of the King County sheriffs department.

"This is basically the 'B.C. bud' transplanted to Washington," Sgt.
Urquhart said. "This is not the first time."

Sgt. Urquhart was reluctant to expand on the nature of the connections
and the organization involved.

But when Supt. Nadeau was asked who in B.C. is exporting their skills,
his answer was simple -- "Everybody."

Organized crime groups are all involved in marijuana production in
B.C., he said. "There's a lot of money to be made."