NEIGHBOURS HAD NO IDEA THAT ORGANIZED CRIME MOVED IN NEXT DOOR

Very generous and very polite. Those aren't words normally used to
describe people linked to organized crime who operate a clandestine
drug lab and processing facility.

So imagine the surprise of residents of a quiet Broadmoor
neighbourhood where not even a Block Watch program managed to help
them sniff out what was right under their noses: the headquarters for
a multi-million dollar drug cell run allegedly by Asian organized crime.

"There was no inclination that any of that was happening," one area
resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said of the home at [address
redacted]., just west of No. 3 Road and Williams.

"It was just by surprise. We didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
They kept a very low profile.

"I never knew the people but it seemed like they fit right in to the
neighbourhood."

On Tuesday, Richmond Mounties rolled out the fruits from the
execution of a dozen search warrants on homes and cars, all executed
simultaneously at homes in Richmond and New Westminster last Wednesday morning.

Inside the upscale Greenlees Court house--assessed at nearly three
quarters of a million dollars, according to city property tax
records--investigators found 28 kilograms of the chemical ketamine,
which could have been used to produce $2 million worth of ecstasy or
methamphetamine.

Police also seized a commercial grade pill press--used to stamp and
form pills--some 22 kilograms of dried marijuana, a kilogram of
methamphetamine, more than $100,000 in cash, a $30,000 bank draft and
three money counters.

There are also indications some serious firepower was inside the
house at one point, judging from the ammunition police seized for an
AR-15 assault rifle--which hasn't been found--and a shotgun.

And when police swooped in and arrested several people in the house
on Greenlees Court, not far from John T. Errington Elementary School,
one was strapped with a loaded nine-millimetre pistol.

Police say the house appears to have been used to process the
marijuana grown in five other homes--[address redacted]., [address
redacted], [address redacted], [address redacted], all in Richmond,
and [address redacted] in New Westminster. Those homes contained some
3,400 mature plants.

Although this Greenlees Court drug lab flew below the radar of local
residents, Richmond RCMP Cpl. Peter Thiessen revealed Tuesday that it
was a phone call from the public that prompted police to launch an
investigation and eventually led to the significant discovery.

"I think it's one of the largest and most significant in quite some
time," he said.

"This is an excellent example of what one tip can lead to."

But one area resident said there was no activity that made the
Greenlees house suspicious.

Its owners, who moved in to the neighbourhood about two years ago, on
at least one occasion chatted with a passerby who was walking her
dog, and even made a generous charitable donation.

"It shocked me that they blended right in to the neighbourhood. There
were other houses in the neighbourhood that we're (more suspicious
of) than that house. That's why...it's got us all by surprise because
we weren't looking at that house."

Asked if the discovery will prompt change, the neighbour said: "Yes,
I think we'll be more vigilant and to look out for these problems,
but with organized crime, nobody's willing to talk."

Investigators are confident the people who were arrested are part of
an Asian organized crime cell operating in Richmond. For the most
part, the accused belong to a single family, Thiessen said.

Where the drugs were headed isn't clear, but the ketamine seizure was
unusually large.

Provincial property tax records indicate the Greenlees home is owned
by a [Name redacted] , 49, was among five people--[Name redacted] ,
23 and [Name redacted] , 18, [Name redacted] , 48, and [Name
redacted] , 47--charged last week with one count of production of a
controlled substance, and two counts of possession for the purpose of
trafficking.

One of the other homes, on [address redacted], belongs to a [Name redacted] .

Thiessen wouldn't say whether efforts were being made to seize the
homes and vehicles under proceeds of crime legislation.