TAKING AIM AT GROW-OPS

They are signs of a marijuana grow house.

Blackened windows, enormous loads of garbage, bags of soil constantly
carted into the front door, and, sometimes, the smell.

A scent that just can't be confused with tobacco.

They were some of the clues neighbours noticed on Boulton Place, the
site of three residential marijuana grow-ops busted by police on Friday.

"After the fact, (neighbours) always say, 'I had a suspicion something
was going on,' " said Det.-Sgt. Gaye Pokol, a member of the Niagara
Regional Police guns, gangs and grow team.

"We rely on the community.... They are basically our eyes, ears and
nose, in this sense, for picking up this stuff."

It took a fire for police to uncover the Boulton Place residential
grow-ops.

St. Catharines firefighters found themselves in the middle of a
marijuana crop after being called to a morning blaze at 54 Boulton and
alerted police.

The discovery led police to two other grow-ops on the same small
street, located in the Facer Street area. Police netted 332 marijuana
plants worth about $166,000.

Pokol said investigators were still determining Tuesday who lived in
the rental houses, which line one side of the street and are owned by
members of the same family.

Officers were attempting to contact the owners of the Boulton Place
rental properties to learn the names of tenants, Pokol said.

He could not confirm whether the three grow-ops are
linked.

"That's still open and under investigation," Pokol
said.

Katherine Brigis, a Toronto property manager who owns the Boulton
Place homes with her four brothers, said she was surprised marijuana
grow-ops were found in the family's rental units.

"I'm extremely shocked. I just took over management of my property in
October," said Brigis, who did not want to comment further.

Marijuana grow-ops are a problem beyond the Garden City's
borders.

More than 450 marijuana grow-ops were uncovered in Ontario in
2006.

Pokol said it's hard to say if the NRP's five-member guns, gangs and
grow team, introduced in the fall, is making a dent in the trend. "Who
knows if we're getting them all or only 10 per cent. I don't know
where we actually stand."

The police aren't the only ones involved in clamping down on marijuana
grow operations.

Tougher provincial rules introduced in August require municipalities
and fire departments to inspect grow-op properties for fire,
structural and health hazards.

St. Catharines fire Insp. Chris Leonard said the department has
inspected five grow-op homes since November.

Inspectors check for several hazards:

Harmful pesticides;

Mould caused by humidity needed to grow the plants;

Faulty wiring caused by attempts to steal hydro.

The new regulations require owners to fix safety hazards before
selling or renting the home. The cost "is substantial" and sometimes
it's more economical to tear a building down, Leonard said.

A faulty electrical cord is being blamed for the Boulton Place fire,
which started in a second-floor bedroom used to grow marijuana. Damage
to the home is pegged at about $50,000.

The hydro was connected properly and was not rigged to bypass the
meter, Leonard said.