NEW HOMES USED TO GROW POT: RCMP

Upscale Surrey Houses Are Then Sold To 'Launder' Cash

The underground business of growing marijuana has become so lucrative that
brand new homes are being customized and purchased for the sole purpose of
housing marijuana operations, Surrey RCMP officials said Tuesday.

In a three-block radius of 168th Street and 84th Avenue, police recently
executed search warrants for growing operations on 15 brand new homes.
Luxury homes in the upscale subdivision sell for about $600,000.

In some cases, houses worth hundreds of thousands of dollars are being
purchased with "garbage bags full of cash," said Surrey RCMP Constable Tim
Shields.

He said the homes are bare of carpeting or standard appliances to allow
more growing room for hundreds of marijuana plants that are worth about
$1,000 each.

Plants are being moved into brand new homes which are being used as growing
operations for a few months, then the house is sold, Shields said.

"These homes are purchased with the proceeds of crime, with cash made from
illegal activities and these houses are used for more illegal activities,"
Shields said. "The purchase and sale of the home is then also used to
launder money."

Shields said that over the past year, police have executed 33 search
warrants on homes less than two years old that are being used as growing
operations. Before that, only a handful of growing operations were in new
homes, with most search warrants executed on rental properties.

On Sept. 12, the RCMP raided a house at 14606-88A Ave. that had received
its occupancy permit just 10 days before. Inside, police found 661 mature
marijuana plants.

In many of the brand new homes, police find no furniture or appliances save
an air mattress and a propane gas stove for cooking so every available
space is used for plants.

The homes have massive air conditioning units to deal with the high
temperatures caused by heat lamps, extensive venting systems to dissipate
tell-tale odours and high-capacity electrical outlets.

These modifications and customizing could be for nothing but
marijuana-growing, said Shields.

But Nick Marach, Surrey's manager of building division, said the city is
not aware of any homes that have been modified to the degree that it would
generate suspicion from bylaw inspectors.

He said inspectors would be aware of any unusual modifications.

Marach, who is in charge of inspections, said that homes with 200 amps of
power capacity are the norms in new construction. That amount of power
capability would allow for swimming pool pumps.

"Old houses used to have 100 amps of power, but there is an increased need
for different appliances that have become the norm," he said.

Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum said the trend toward using new homes for
growing operations means the business has now spread everywhere in the city
and is not limited to rundown rental properties.

"People buy these houses, put in marijuana grow operations and use them for
a year or so, then fix up the inside so they can get their investment
back," he said.

"It shows there is a lot of money to be made in grow operations."

Police say they believe real estate agents are involved with criminals in
finding new homes to start growing operations.

One real-estate agent who knowingly arranged for the purchase of a house
used specifically for a growing operation has been arrested in the last few
months, said Shields.

He said he wasn't sure whether charges have been laid.

Fraser Valley Real Estate Board officer Ellen Baragon said the association
has never heard of any real estate agent being linked to growing operations.

Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, realtors, like bankers, must report any
suspicious cash transactions over $10,000, she said Tuesday.

The senior officer for the RCMP drug enforcement branch said the trend
toward new houses being used for growing operations doesn't necessarily
mean rental properties are no longer being used.

"People aren't preferring $400,000 houses to $100,000 houses," said
Superintendent Carl Busson.

"But obviously if you have more room, you can grow more plants."

Police say the growing operations in Surrey's new homes are being
controlled by members of a Vietnamese organized crime group. Busson said
this group is in turn working in partnership with the Hells Angels.

"In statistics we have and research done from 1997 to 2000, we have seen
the Vietnamese are heavily involved as the actual growers, people tending
the crops," Busson said. "I haven't seen anything different to lead us to
believe that has changed in the last year."

The level of involvement between the Vietnamese gang members and the Hells
Angels differs in various locations, he said Tuesday.

"We don't have intelligence that leads us to believe they're competing, so
that means one or two things," Busson said.

"That there is clearly defined areas where one or the other has control or
they're set up in such a manner as they have a cooperative venture happening."