GROW-OP HOMES COULD BE SEIZED

MONCTON - Police are asking courts to seize 14 of the 15 houses involved in
a Moncton marijuana grow op as illegal proceeds of crime, preventing anyone
from living in or selling the homes.

The RCMP grabbed more than just marijuana plants in Tuesday's raids. They
seized $75,000, 15 executive-style houses worth approximately $3 million,
and about a dozen cars and vans.

RCMP Operations Commander Rick Daigle says the houses were owned for the
sole purpose of growing marijuana. "There's no furniture in the homes, very
little food, the rooms are mostly bare except for marijuana plants and
hydroponic growing equipment."

The restraint on the houses would keep them from being changed in any way
while the RCMP gathers evidence to prove they were bought with profits from
criminal activity.

If the courts agree, the federal government will take possession of the
houses, put them up for sale, and add the money to federal coffers.

Daigle says owners would also be charged with possession of proceeds of
crime. "Anyone who has his or her name associated to that home in any way,
shape, or form, possibly as an owner, they've got problems today."

The owners have paid off between 20 to 25 per cent of their mortgages on the
homes, and that means more than $600,000 could be headed into the government
coffers.

Five more people were arrested in Hamilton, Ontario on Wednesday in
connection with the Moncton drug raid.

Ontario police seized 1,678 plants along with cash and related goods. Police
say they were tipped off to the connection between the two cities by
frequent flights between Hamilton and Moncton.

A total of 16 people have been arrested in Moncton. All of the suspects are
of Vietnemese heritage, but police are still trying to determine where
they're from.

The suspects will be back in a Moncton court Thursday morning, after court
proceedings were delayed by language problems.