GROW-OP BUST A SNAPSHOT OF MARKET

High-Rise Seizure of $6-Million in Pot Reflects Canada's Major-Source
Status, Police Officials Say

In one sense, the monster North York marijuana grow-operation shut
down by Toronto police on Thursday was remarkable. In all, 18
soil-filled apartments in the same Jane Street high-rise were found
to have been transformed into indoor gardens, bursting with an
estimated $6-million worth of plants.

Yet at the same time, this latest bust very much represented business
as usual. Current police intelligence suggests there are up to 10,000
marijuana grow-ops in the Greater Toronto Area, says Superintendent
Ron Allen, who leads RCMP drug-enforcement operations across the region.

As for that $6-million figure -- based on expectations of a $1,000
yield for each of the 6,000-plus plants seized, "that's not out of
line at all," Supt. Allen said.

And if shipped across the U.S. border -- as are hundreds of tonnes of
Canadian marijuana each year, most commonly concealed in trucks --
the profit could be two or three times as much.

That price differential -- a half kilogram of high-grade marijuana
worth upward of $1,600 in Canada is worth at least $3,000 (U.S.) --
reflects Draconian U.S. drug-cultivation laws that have fed a
Canada-to-U.S. marijuana pipeline since the early 1990s.

Also unsurprising, in light of arrest patterns on both sides of the
border, is that two of the three men charged in Thursday's raids are
of Vietnamese origin. The other man is listed as the building's superintendent.

No one suggests the vast majority of Canadian-Vietnamese citizens are
anything but law abiding. At the same time, however, it has long been
recognized by police that a sizable chunk of Canada's lucrative
marijuana industry, whether hydroponic or soil-based, as with this
particular crop, is run by criminal entrepreneurs of Vietnamese origin.

There is no monopoly within the pot industry.

The Hells Angels, who are almost entirely white, have been profiting
from it for years, particularly in British Columbia, where the
business first took root. Although he was never charged, the alleged
brains behind Canada's largest intercepted marijuana seizure -- the
25,000 pot plants discovered at the old Molson brewery in Barrie
almost three years ago -- is a Canadian-Italian businessman who lives
near St. Catharines.

And when police shut down a big drug-smuggling tunnel that straddles
the B.C.-Washington border last year, the three men accused and
convicted were found to be of Indian, Chinese and Hispanic extraction.

A U.S. Department of Justice report on the cross-border narcotics
industry released this month nonetheless concluded that "high-potency
marijuana production, smuggling and distribution by Canada-based DTOs
[drug-trafficking organizations] primarily of Vietnamese ethnicity,
is increasing."

As well, Canada-based Asian crime syndicates are now the predominant
distributors of the drug ecstasy (MDMA), the report states.

Supt. Allen concurs.

For the past two years, Health Canada has been funding RCMP efforts
to identify the main players in Canada's multibillion-dollar
marijuana industry.

"And certainly from the arrests we've made, Vietnamese Canadians seem
to be at the forefront. They play a key role, although they don't
control the market," he said.

As with many of the roughly 250 grow-ops shut down in Toronto last
year, the police who raided the Jane Street high-rise said yesterday
they suspect the haul was destined for export.

Staff Inspector Donald Campbell added that he recently met with
police commanders from big cities across the United States, and they
all said the same thing: Canada is a major source of marijuana.

And while residents of the Jane Street building said the smell of
marijuana smoke was familiar, many were stunned to learn the scale of
the operation.

Videotape of two of the raided apartments, shown to reporters,
provided a glimpse of how things worked.

In one apartment the kitchen contained the young plants, while the
two bedrooms were for the next two stages of growth. In the apartment
next door, the marijuana was dried, with holes drilled through walls
to run the watering system and provide ventilation.

Strategically placed pictures and furniture served as props, in the
event that somebody glanced through an open door, Detective Dave
Malcolm said, noting that the threat of fires, mould and discarded
fertilizer posed a real threat to the building's 700 residents.

"The people that are doing this, they really don't care," he said.

Indeed, a marijuana grow-op caused a fire in April, though it was
unclear whether it was connected to this multi-pronged operation,
which police suspect was running for about a year.

Along with the 6,000 plants, about 30 pounds of dried marijuana worth
about $45,000 was seized.

Several residents said yesterday that they never suspected drugs were
being grown.

But Mirna Aguilar, who lives two doors away from one of the raided
units, said she noticed the smell of marijuana growing two months ago.

Owner Harry Birman said yesterday he wishes Ms. Aguilar had called
him with her concerns. He owns many other buildings in Toronto, and
fears his reputation is ruined.

"My name is garbage now," he said.

Mr. Birman reckoned the episode will likely cost him about $25,000 in
repairs and lost rent.

Ms. Aguilar recounted often seeing the two suspects who didn't work
for the building moving boxes with a dolly.

"They would always ask me if I had a light," she said. "I just
thought they were moving."

Mr. Birman said the fire department conducts annual inspections of
the apartments, but tenant-protection rules require that residents be
given a 24-hour warning.

The act allows for entry without permission only if fire or flood is
suspected. Mr. Birman says he wishes he could add a third grounds:
Suspicion of marijuana.

Building superintendent Daniel Wallace, 47, is charged with
conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Tat Thang Nguyen, 35, and Dinh Pham, 46, both of Toronto, have also
been charged with conspiracy, along with multiple counts of producing
and possessing marijuana.