DRUG RAIDS HIT HOME: RCMP, CITY POLICE SEARCH 42 SITES

Calgary drug detectives have uprooted marijuana growing operations
worth nearly $19 million in a month-long crackdown.

In just over a year, the Southern Alberta Marijuana Investigative Team
- -- comprised of four RCMP officers and two Calgary Police Service
detectives -- has seized more than $120 million worth of homegrown pot
believed to be linked to organized crime.

The October and November blitz was called Operation Community
Response. Drug detectives raided 42 suburban houses in every quadrant
of the city: Palliser, Haysboro, Harvest Hills, Hawkwood, Lynnwood
Ridge and Sundance, Global News reported Monday night.

With help from the Calgary police tactical team, the drug squad forced
its way into homes -- sometimes three to four a day -- seizing more
than 15,000 pot plants and more than $1 million worth of growing equipment.

Some of the homes were fortified with extra wood in an attempt to keep
home invaders out, discouraging grow rips, police said. Weapons
including baseball bats, swords and axes were found.

The drug team was formed using provincial and federal funding and
started working to rid Calgary neighbourhoods of pot houses in
September 2003.

Along the way, detectives following up on tips discovered homes in the
suburbs disguising sophisticated, commercial pot growing operations.

In most instances, police say, the drug growers don't live on the
premises -- the homes are "babysat" by crop tenders who also package
the goods.

Hawkeyed neighbours have led police to drug houses by reporting
suspicious homes after noticing excessive condensation on windows,
traffic at all hours and melting snow on rooftops during the winter.

Last year, police seized over $50 million worth of pot, including
36,000 plants, and laid 224 charges against 78 people.