PLANS, VANS & WEAPONS: COPS BUST A GROW-OP

It's a quiet, sunny Friday morning on Heritage Mountain. A woman stands in
her front yard watering her flowers with a hose. A man with his dog waves
as he jogs by. Neither notices the convoy of minivans and SUVs inching its
way up the street. If it weren't for the two white police cars at the end
of the line, you might think it was just parents returning home after
taking their kids to school.

The vehicles come to a stop and the occupants listen for their leader's
instructions.

"The fire truck and ambulance are in position. The principal confirms the
school is in lockdown. The street is clear. Go now! Go now!"

The convoy moves forward another block, the police cars pull out of the
line to block the street, the doors of the minivans slide open and armed
men in battle dress jump out.

They are members of the new joint emergency response team (ERT) made up of
officers from the Port Moody, Delta, New Westminster and Abbotsford
municipal police departments. They carry shields, wear helmets and goggles,
and are heavily armed.

They look like they are going to war. They are actually about to bust
another marijuana grow op.

They have come with more than guns. A lot of work has already been done.
They have plans of the neighborhood. They have the house blueprints the
builder submitted to the city planning department. An undercover officer
has had the house under surveillance for several hours and, less than an
hour ago, a judge signed a search warrant.

The ERT members quickly take cover behind vehicles and shrubs. A phone call
is placed to the residents of the home, who either don't understand or
choose not to understand. As the police train their weapons on the home,
the tranquility of the neighbourhood is shattered by a megaphone.

"Occupants of 70 Timbercrest Dr., this is the Port Moody Police. You are
under arrest. We have a search warrant for your house. Come to the front
door now. Identify yourself. Do as you are told and you will not be hurt."

The woman at the end of the street puts down her hose and walks towards the
police roadblock.

A man walks out to the road and asks one cop, "Is this a movie or the real
thing?" The policeman says, "It's real."

The resident asks, "How long will it be before my wife can move her car?
She has to leave for work."

A toddler still in pajamas is held back by his mother as he tries to get
closer to the emergency vehicles.

The police officer with the megaphone repeats his call to the occupants of
the house and more residents gather by the roadblock and jockey for a
better view. One has brought binoculars, which he shares with his neighbours.

They watch as a man emerges onto the balcony of the pink stucco house, his
hands stretched upwards. The officers bark orders at him as he slowly walks
barefoot down the stairs towards their pointed weapons. Next, he is ordered
down on to his hands and knees, and he crawls down the driveway past the
manicured garden to the police waiting on the road. Once he is searched and
handcuffed, a woman appears on the balcony and is also taken into custody.

As they sit in separate police cars, they turn back for a glimpse of the
action as the team prepares to enter the home.

Soon, the team is in the house and it is declared safe, the suspects are
driven away and the street is reopened. A call goes out over the police
radio: "Have [BC] Hydro attend, we have found an electrical bypass."

Next, the drug team will move in to document what they find, gather
evidence and seize plants and growing equipment. Officers find no pot and
say it appears as if a crop had been harvested recently.