TRAIL GROW-OP MAY HAVE BEEN PART OF LOWER MAINLAND NETWORK

Suspects Arrested In Series Of Busts Have Mainly Been From Vancouver

Police in Trail say a recent marijuana grow-op bust in the city may be
related to a $5-million bust in Grand Forks last month that investigators
have linked with Lower Mainland organized crime.

Four people were arrested and police seized 600 plants and 6.8 kilograms of
dried buds in the Dec. 5 Trail raid.

The value of the seized marijuana is estimated at $635,000.

Three of those arrested are from Vancouver and one is from Vancouver Island.

Their names are being withheld pending approval of charges of drug
production and possession for the purpose of trafficking. They are
scheduled to appear in Rossland Provincial Court on Feb. 10, 2005.

"Our investigation to date has revealed a strong possibility of a link [to
the November raids in] Grand Forks," said RCMP Staff Sgt. Nick Romanchuk.

Police also believe the four are linked to two previous grow-op raids in
Trail this year.

Romanchuk said the Trail raid is a possible example of organized crime
because of the number of individuals involved and their alleged association
with "a larger network that is operating throughout the Kootenay/Boundary
area."

It is not clear at this stage of the investigation whether that "larger
network" is a branch of a Lower Mainland gang, he said.

Trail police are sharing their information with their colleagues in Grand
Forks.

Police in Grand Forks took down grow-ops in eight homes last month, seizing
about $5 million worth of marijuana (5,000 plants) and grow equipment.

The five people arrested in that operation were from the Vancouver area.

Grand Forks RCMP also found numerous real-estate guides for towns in the
south Okanagan and central Kootenay.