RICHMOND YOUTHS WARNED AGAINST MARIJUANA THEFTS

Students stealing from pot growers are in danger of reprisals, RCMP say.

Richmond RCMP Constable Peter Thiessen stands behind a large knife seized at
a marijuana grow operation in the city.

Richmond RCMP are concerned that some local high school students are
plundering marijuana-growing operations to make a quick buck without knowing
the valuable crops belong to ruthless organized crime groups.

RCMP Constable Peter Thiessen said students bent on doing such a crime
should realize they could end up being beaten or even killed by the owners
of the valuable plants.

"The young juveniles in Richmond have got to know that they're playing with
fire, and they're going to get themselves killed," Thiessen said.

"But in some warped way, our intelligence is telling us these kids think
they're helping police by taking down these [operations]. But they don't
understand that organized crime is not going to fool around and they're
going to protect their investments. Organized crime does not have a
conscience."

The police warning came Thursday, the day after three 16-year-old male high
school students attempted to steal about 400 marijuana plants from a house
in the 5500-block Granville Avenue.

One of the males was armed with an eight-inch butcher knife and they were
all carrying empty garbage bags. The males attempted to commit the crime
while a middle-aged woman was in the house, Thiessen said.

"They knew she was in the house, but were still prepared to go in," he said
of the 1 p.m. incident.

Police arrested the males, the woman and her common-law husband at the scene
after a passer-by noticed the males attempting to get in the house through a
window. The couple also has an 11-year-old daughter but she wasn't in the
house at the time, Thiessen said.

The growing operation was on the second floor of the house and the family
was living on the bottom floor. Early indications are that the operation
might have a direct connection to organized crime, Thiessen said.

No charges have been laid but all five -- the three teenagers and the couple
- -- have been released on a promise to appear in court at a later date. The
three young males are known to police for minor offences but nothing
approaching the seriousness of Wednesday's crime, Thiessen said.

"It appears that these three males were simply three high school students
that felt that this was a good way to try to make some money," he said.

The incident follows a string of crimes in Richmond associated to the
marijuana trade. In a city in which police have already broken up 253
growing operations, Thiessen said police are doing their best to tackle the
dope problem.

"Certainly it's a large task dealing with organized groups, organized
crime," he said.

On Oct. 12, a Vietnamese woman in her early 50s was sexually assaulted and
beaten inside a marijuana growing operation near Williams and No. 2 Road.
Police arrested three men near the scene.

Jason Kent Porter, 19, Gregory James Turner, 20, and Ryan Ray Reeves, 20,
were all charged with assault causing bodily harm, sexual assault and break
and enter.

On Aug. 22, a 42-year-old Richmond man was tied up and beaten in a house in
the 7100-block of Ash Street, where police later located a marijuana growing
operation. The suspects were in the house to steal 90 marijuana plants,
Thiessen said.

In May, a man inside a house in the 7500-block Langton Road jumped out of a
second-storey window to escape from males armed with meat cleavers, police
said. The occupant told police he was hired to look after a growing
operation inside the house.

At least six fires in Richmond have also been linked to marijuana growing
operations.