POT GROWERS PLANT EXPLOSIVE BOOBY TRAPS, POLICE SAY

Saanich police warn hikers to beware after finding mousetraps rigged with
shotgun shells in parks

VICTORIA -- Marijuana growers are protecting their crops by setting booby
traps in public parks and Saanich police are warning hikers to be on their
guard.

Saanich Deputy Police Chief Mike Chadwick showed reporters a camouflaged
mousetrap last week which had been altered to fire off a shotgun shell.
Chadwick said police have found similar devices on public property and in
provincial and regional parks in the area north of Victoria.

"There is potential for injury here. This one allegedly was made to scare
deer away from an outdoor grow-op. But the reality is these things can also
be altered to harm somebody if they want to protect the grow-op from
somebody harvesting it before the growers do."

Someone had hammered a nail into the mousetrap, then attached a piece of
metal pipe with a hole drilled in it. A .22-calibre explosive charge was
inserted into the hole to set off flash powder or gunpowder in the pipe,
which would make a loud noise to scare away deer.

"But it could also be studded with nails or pellets if they want to have it
explode outwards and form what they refer to as a man-trap," said Chadwick.
"This one was set up with tripwires which trigger the device to snap
forward into the hole and detonate the powder."

A 54-year-old Saanich man is being investigated for possession of the trap,
said Chadwick.

Last year, Saanich police found five or six booby traps. Some of them had
shotgun shells attached to them while others contained shrapnel. No one has
been injured.