HUGE POT SWEEP

A Sweep of Marijuana Grow-Ops Has Put a Dent in the Local Supply and
Driven Some Growers to Uproot Their Plantations.

RCMP have dedicated six officers full-time to investigating and
busting marijuana grow-operations in the Central Okanagan since Oct. 30.

Working with six other drug-section members, the Green Team raided 23
grow-ops and seized 10,500 pot plants, worth an estimated $8.4
million on the street.

Twenty-one people face trafficking and cultivation charges. Police
are looking for 14 others.

"We have very reliable information that some of the marijuana growers
this month have been dismantling their grow-ops because of (our)
enforcement action," said Sgt. Tim Shields, who heads Kelowna's drug section.

"The word is definitely out there that we are kicking in doors . . .
so we are making a dent."

Police found the larger crops in rural areas such as Joe Rich and
June Springs Road. They seized smaller amounts from homes in
Peachland, Westbank, Dilworth, Rutland, Black Mountain and the Lower Mission.

During one bust, an officer spotted a well-known member of an
organized-crime group drive by. He went up a forest service road, met
with another man and exchanged 40 pounds of dried marijuana bud for
$100,000 cash. Both men were arrested.

One pot farm was hidden in a growing room under a concrete garage.
The caretakers accessed it through a hidden door. Other grow-ops are
set up in crawl spaces, Shields said.

Another in Oyama was set up in a large barn under 216 lights. Most of
it had been dismantled. Only 660 plants remained, but the barn could
accommodate 10,000 plants. Police seized equipment worth several
hundred thousand dollars, Shields said.

"They had their own electrical substation with a large transformer to
distribute power throughout the barn."

Most of the grow houses were rented. The owners either hire others to
take care of the plants or look the other way, police say.

Grow-ops fund other criminal operations, posing a threat to public
safety. They provoke murders and home invasions, said Const. Annie Linteau.

"Police are increasingly encountering loaded firearms of all types
when conducting grow-op investigations or searches. You and I are at
risk if there are turf wars between groups."

Residents have complained for years about grow-ops, but police often
lack the manpower to bust them. The number of officers working for
the city has grown to 123, allowing police to refocus on the problem,
said Supt. Bill McKinnon.

"We haven't had the members to do the job. We finally felt we had the
numbers to do it. Can we sustain it right now? No . . . Do we hope to
do it in the new year again? Absolutely." Police estimate if each
plant produced four ounces of smokable pot, the busted grow-ops could
have generated more than 40,000 ounces or 1,138,592 grams.

Assuming a user smokes four joints per gram, the marijuana could
supply each of the 10,600 students in local middle and secondary
schools with one joint a day for 14 months, Linteau said.

Grow houses can blend into affluent neighbourhoods, but faulty wiring
increases the risk of fire. The houses lower property values and
increase our power bills, Linteau said.

Inside every grow-op are fungi, aphids, fertilizers and pesticides,
Shields said. Users have no idea what chemicals they're smoking.

Worse, the grow-ops busted in November were linked to organized crime
groups -- the Hells Angels, Independent Soldiers and Vietnamese
gangs, Shields said. Much of the pot is smuggled into the U.S.
despite increased border security since Sept. 11, 2001, and exchanged
for cash or cocaine.

"That cocaine makes it back into our streets, our City Park," Shields
said. "Your chances of being caught are greatly increased, but there
definitely still is marijuana going south and cocaine coming north."

Shields produced a short video of a bust last week. It showed
officers receiving a safety briefing to discuss who the suspects
were, what weapons to expect and fortifications that might be inside.

Once they arrived in unmarked cars, the officers found the front door
was fortified. They kicked in another door to find no one living
there. Its sole purpose was to grow marijuana for profit, Shields said.

"In some cases, the houses are lived in with families and small children."

Most of the basement floor was covered with small plants and drying
racks. The plants would have been ready for harvest in two months.

Large air-conditioning vents were punched through walls and chimneys.
The heat generated by the 1,000-watt lights was "immense," Shields
said. Electrical-bypass transformers on the wall were so hot, he
couldn't touch them.

Irrigation lines snaked among the plants. The moisture caused black
mould to form in the drywall.

The wiring from grow-ops can be deadly. Linteau said there were 15
electrocutions related to grow-ops from 1995 to 2000. One in 10
grow-ops sparks a fire, she said.

Police encourage residents to report neighbourhood grow-ops to Crime
Stoppers (861-8477) or the RCMP (762-3300). Watch for frequent
visitors at all hours, suspicious vehicles and people, strange
odours, unusual wiring outside the house, humming noises, window
coverings and snow-less roofs when others are covered.

More busts are slated for this week.

"Marijuana growers need to take note. If we haven't come for you yet,
we will. It's only a matter of time," Shields said.