HALF OF B.C. TOWN GROWS POT

16 arrested in swoop on Seymour Arm. Grow-ops of 20,000 marijuana plants
being dismantled; supplied U.S. market

CanWest News Service

A tiny B.C. Interior community had twice as many cops as residents on
Tuesday as police officers swooped in to crack down on several marijuana
grow-ops allegedly operating in the area.

Sixteen men were arrested in the raid on Seymour Arm, population 70, by
about 150 police officers as they executed warrants on 14 properties and
vehicles, all within a four-kilometre radius.

Police say the two-year investigation grew out of complaints from residents
unhappy with the number of grow-ops in the area and complaining of
violence, threats and intimidation.

Officers seized 50 weapons and 20,000 pot plants, as well as growing
equipment, which they were hauling out of town in a least seven rental
trucks, said RCMP Supt. Marianne Ryan.

She said the area is isolated, with homes in the bush generating their own
power "to reduce suspicion."

"This community has been infiltrated by organized crime," Ryan said.
"They've taken advantage of the geography and remoteness of the area."

Sgt. John Ward estimated more than half the people living in Seymour Arm
were involved in growing marijuana. He said it was being exported to the U.S.

Allan Sterling, who was one of the men arrested, yesterday accused police
of arresting 16 "innocent" locals. He and the others were released.
Sterling was told to appear in Kamloops, B.C., provincial court on Dec. 8.

He said the police action is dividing a place with few jobs and destroying
the town's reputation as a peaceful tourist haven for house boats and
hunters of bear, moose, deer, and mountain goats.

"Its going to cause major separation between local people," said Sterling,
48, while drinking beer by Shuswap Lake.

Several locals, including longtime residents, said the community is a place
where people volunteer to build each other's log houses and new docks. They
say "everybody" has a gun to protect against cougars and bears.