VIOLENCE GROWS AS MARIJUANA PROFITS RISE

Suburban 'Epidemic'

Marijuana grow operations, many of them in well-to-do suburban
neighbourhoods, "have reached epidemic levels in Ontario, Quebec and
particularly British Columbia," says a classified RCMP report on organized
crime.

The detailed analysis of threats from myriad sophisticated criminal gangs
across Canada pegs the illicit indoor and outdoor marijuana gardens as "an
economic mainstay for all crime groups."

Moreover, the report says the profit from the operations is so great that
violence over them -- including murders -- is "on the rise in most areas of
the country."

Police in Canada have seized an average of 1.4 million marijuana plants in
each of the past four years, representing a six-fold increase from 1993,
the report says. Based on the size of the seizures and the average plant
yield, the RCMP estimates the annual marijuana production in Canada to be
800 tonnes.

"The sheer size of those operations has reached unprecedented levels. Each
year, several multi-thousand plant operations are discovered both indoors
and outdoors," the report says.

The cultivation of marijuana, a drug on the verge of going before
Parliament to decriminalize its possession, is undertaken by many criminal
groups studied in the RCMP intelligence report obtained by the National Post.

"Outlaw motorcycle gangs used to enjoy a virtual monopoly over marijuana
grow operations but they now have to contend with an increasing Asian
organized-crime presence in some parts of the country," the report says.

It is now a particular favourite of Vietnamese gangs.

"Vietnamese-based organized crime groups ... are considered violent and are
involved in different criminal activities, particularly marijuana grow
operations and related money laundering."

The gangs often distance themselves from the operation by hiring new
immigrants to tend the crops.

"Violence has always been an intrinsic part of the production, trafficking
and distribution of illicit drugs and marijuana is no exception. There are
broad indications that violence associated with marijuana grow operations
is on the rise in most areas of the country," the report says.

"The marijuana grow phenomenon continues to grow and it should remain a
major source of revenue for various types of organized crime. They have a
disruptive effect on communities, since disputes over these operations can
turn violent."

The report says police have linked home invasions, drug thefts, burglaries,
assaults and murders to the operations.

Canada's homegrown marijuana is being smuggled to the United States and the
proceeds from sales then repatriated to gangsters here. The marijuana is
also being traded in the United States for cocaine, which is then imported
and sold in Canada, the report says.

The prominence of issues relating to marijuana grow operations in the
40-page report, distributed internally in April to help guide and
prioritize major investigations launched by the RCMP, suggests the
seriousness with which the force views the problem.

Dan McTeague, a Liberal MP, said the report raises serious concerns that
are ignored in the government's proposed amendments to the Controlled Drugs
and Substances Act, the legislation that would decriminalize simple
possession of marijuana.

"The issue of decriminalization has obscured the real problem here. We seem
to have lost sight of the profound implications for public security that
stems from marijuana grow operations," Mr. McTeague said.

The amendments, which also deal with grow operation offences, is "woefully
inadequate" in tackling the epidemic because it does not require minimum
prison terms for those caught running the operations, nor does it have
escalating sentencing provisions for repeat offenders, he said.

"In the rush to meet the Prime Minister's agenda, we are avoiding a very
serious social and security issue. Most of us see this as a bad Cheech and
Chong movie, but it is giving rise to the penetration of organized crime
that now threatens our valued institutions," he said.

Figures contained in a separate confidential report, prepared by the
Criminal Intelligence Service Ontario and obtained by the Post, says that
in the Toronto area, in the years 2000 to 2002, 152 sentences were handed
out for running a grow operation.

Only 42 of them included incarceration; the average sentence was 46 days in
custody.

The CISO report says 85% of the marijuana cultivation and distribution in
B.C. is controlled by outlaw bikers and Vietnamese gangs. The joint police
intelligence agency suspects that situation is mirrored in Ontario,
although more research is needed.

The RCMP's report says the immediate outlook for law enforcement is not good.

"High profitability, low risk and relatively lenient sentences continue to
entice growers, making it difficult, if not impossible, for the police to
make a truly lasting impact on the marijuana cultivation industry in Canada.

"Since marijuana is by far the most popular and widely available illicit
drug, it is unlikely that the current trend will change in the near
future," it concludes.

GROW-OPS FLOURISH IN WELL-TO-DO AREAS:

A marijuana grow-op was operated in this home in Coquitlam.

Licensed real estate agents of Vietnamese origin have helped Asian
organized crime groups purchase or lease homes for use as illicit marijuana
grow operations, says a confidential report by Criminal Intelligence
Service Ontario.

The homes, often in well-to-do neighbourhoods, are used to grow massive
quantities of high-grade marijuana, says the report by the joint police
agency that co-ordinates funding to police services involved in major
investigations.

The homes are not the squalid, inner-city crack houses usually associated
with the drug trade but large, modern suburban homes with double garages.

The report, obtained by the National Post, says recent reports on
operations raided by police are largely consistent, leading to a portrait
of a "typical grow op."

The gangsters start by looking for specific homes:

- - They are usually more than 2,000 square feet and priced between $200,000
and $500,000;

- - The basement is unfinished to facilitate the rewiring needed to hook up
the 1,000-watt lights and other equipment needed to grow the marijuana plants;

- - A fireplace is needed to vent the powerful odour from the crop; and

- - A large, attached garage is needed to conceal vehicles used to transport
the harvested crops.

Once the home is bought, a renovation crew installs the heating and venting
systems and an electrical bypass box to steal the massive amount of
electricity needed. Spreading the hydro draw between unsuspecting
neighbours masks the hydro spike when the grow op starts.

"Once the operation is set up, a 'crop sitter' -- often a recent immigrant
- -- with little or no knowledge of the rest of the operation is paid a
nominal wage to water the plants and generally tend to the daily upkeep,"
says the report.

"To avoid eliciting suspicion by neighbours, the crop sitter will sometimes
have his or her entire family live in the dwelling."

The operations typically generate at least 600 plants each cycle with a
retail value of $600,000.

"As many as 10,000 children may have resided in grow-op dwellings over the
2000-2003 period," the CISO report says.

Ran with fact box "Grow-Ops Flourish in Well-To-Do Areas" which had been
appended to the story.; ahumphreys@nationalpost.com