RCMP LIKELY TO SEIZE POT HOMES

At least two half-million-dollar homes in Coquitlam's fashionable Westwood
Plateau could soon become government real estate after drug cops harvested
4,000 pot plants.

Cpl. Catherine Galliford said two of the six homes that were raided are
owned by the growers, and the Crown is likely to apply to seize the homes
as proceeds of crime.

RCMP moved in on Monday after B.C. Hydro did load tests on six houses.
Their suspicions proved correct and police were notified.

"These homes are worth at least half a million and we know two of these are
owned by the cultivators and we are still looking into the other four,"
said Galliford.

Police arrested three women and two men and they face marijuana charges as
well as charges of theft of electricity.

Two children aged six and 11 who live in the homes were handed over to the
children's ministry.

Galliford said all six homes had dangerous homemade bypasses for stealing
electricity. In one case, a cable was passing through water, raising the
risk of electrocution.

In Chilliwack yesterday, police arrested a 73-year-old woman and two others
after a grow-op fire in a house in the 46000-block Macken Avenue.

Authorities said the fire was likely caused by a bypass designed to steal
electricity.

Police found 202 plants. The senior citizen, a 42-year-old woman and a
39-year-old man face marijuana charges.