'IT BECAME A NIGHTMARE TO LIVE HERE'

28 Grow-Ops: Coquitlam Townhouse Raid Uncovers A Beehive Of Illegal Activity

Tenants of a Coquitlam townhouse complex were shaking their heads in
disbelief yesterday after a Coquitlam RCMP bust uncovered as many as 28
marijuana-growing operations in the modest complex.

Standing in his garage workshop, one tenant said everyone in the complex
knew about the grow-ops -- they just couldn't believe it took so long to
bust them.

"How do I feel to be living near a grow-op? Which one?" deadpanned the man,
who has lived in the complex in the 2600-block Cape Horn Avenue in the
Crescentview area for five years and said he's been complaining to the
management company repeatedly for the past year. "We started complaining
and they just didn't listen. It started with two places and they just kept
adding and adding and adding."

When the management company gave notice that the rent for his
1,900-square-foot, three-bedroom home was to increase from $1,350 to
$1,600, the tenant had had enough.

"I complained about the smell from the one next door and the manager told
me it was the smell of fresh-cut wood, but I'm not stupid," said the father
of two teens. "I told the landlord a long time ago that if all the good
tenants move out, you only have bad tenants left. I've had it. I've bought
a place and now I'm moving out."

As workers removed grow-op buckets, silver wall insulation, ventilation
pipes and bottles of liquid nutrients from the units marked with red and
white B.C. Hydro notifications, a spokesman for Nacel Properties Ltd.,
which owns the complex, said the company went to the RCMP on Thursday and
the busts took place on Friday.

Police said they busted nine marijuana grow-ops and found evidence of 19
others that had been dismantled.

"We gave the tenants 24-hour notice of inspection and I walked in and all I
saw was plants," he said. "I see plants, I walk out -- I don't know if the
place is booby-trapped or what.

"The tenants just disappeared. This is certainly going to cost a lot of
money [to repair]. First, we have to get in there and take a look and see
how bad it is."

Ros, a tenant who didn't want her last name used for fear of retribution
from the growers, said she thanked the Lord every day when she came home
and saw her unit hadn't been burned down by a fire caused by illegal and
unsafe hydro bypasses.

"I came home every day and thanked God that my place is still there and my
dogs are still alive," she said.

"It became a nightmare to live here. Only in B.C."

Another tenant watched from his garage workshop as the workers emptied the
two suites next door into a bin.

"I told everyone it was a powder keg and ready to blow," he said. "They had
countless propane tanks in there and the fuses used to blow all the time.
I've been in construction my whole life and after seeing how fast the
little black line on the hydro meter was going -- I've never seen power
draw like that before, ever."

Holding a roll-your-own cigarette, the man said he, too, complained
repeatedly to the company and now he and his wife and daughter are moving out.

"I moved here from the Island three years ago for a change of pace and I'm
just dumbfounded," he said. "It was a beehive of activity here from 2 a.m.
on -- I couldn't get any sleep. We've had it -- we're moving at the end of
the month."

Other neighbors said they were threatened by some growers and others said
they've heard rumours a crystal methamphetamine lab was also located in one
of the units.

RCMP were unavailable for comment yesterday but a news release said no
arrests had been made and the investigation is ongoing.