POMO HOUSES TARGETED IN POT RAID

Pot growers in Port Moody were put "on notice" this week after police
found $1 million worth of marijuana in six upscale homes Thursday. The
grow operations were located within a one-block radius from each other
in a new, expensive neighbourhood on Heritage Mountain. Const. Brian
Soles of PoMo Police said the three homes on Firview Place, the two
homes on Ashwood Drive and the house on Wildwood Place are valued at
around $500,000 each. PMPD expects to uncover more grow ops in the
next few weeks. "We are giving marijuana cultivators notice," Soles
said. "The price of doing their business just went sky high in Port
Moody." Pot growers were unheard of in the suburbs until a few years
ago and many are not local residents, Soles said.

Last October, PoMo city council passed a bylaw that would shift the
costs of grow op clean-ups from the taxpayer to the owner of the
property where the grow op was found. Any former grow-op home without
the proper permits or inspection may be deemed unsafe. And the city
also is keeping a record of homes where grow-ops have been located,
which could have a bearing on the future sale of the home, Soles said.