40 KIDS SEIZED IN WAR ON DRUGS

Forty children have been taken into provincial custody in the last six
weeks because their parents have been arrested by police waging a war
against marijuana-growing operations.

"That's very unusual for us. That's very high," said Ross Dawson,
director of child protection for the ministry of children and families.

In most of the cases, the children are of Vietnamese descent. Police
say some Vietnamese families are being recruited to cultivate
marijuana in their homes shortly after their arrival to Canada.

In the last year, this ethnic group has almost taken over the rapidly
expanding local pot-growing industry.

"We have seen more and more evidence of almost complete domination of
the cultivation business by Vietnamese," said Vancouver police media
liaison Constable Anne Drennan.

"We are dealing with families who, very shortly after they enter
Canada, seem to be recruited to become gardeners for grow-ops."

This week, B.C.'s top organized crime police agency raided two dozen
marijuana-filled homes in the Lower Mainland, and 25 children --
between the ages of six months and 17 years -- were discovered among
hundreds of plants and high-tech equipment.

Thirty-one adults were arrested, and many are the parents or guardians
of the children.

Eleven children were sent to live with relatives or family friends and
seven were left with their parents, but seven others are now in the
custody of the ministry because there was no one to care for them,
said Dawson.

Those seven join 33 other children who, since Feb. 1, have been
apprehended and kept by the government following marijuana
grow-operation busts.

And that number is expected to continue to increase, as police vow to
target the main players behind the large and lucrative B.C. bud industry.

"If you're operating one of these, I suggest you pack up and move,
because we will take you down," Vancouver Deputy Chief Constable John
Unger said Friday.

Drennan said the Vietnamese families are motivated by money and often
are put in charge of growing pot in the family home and several other
vacant houses. She said it appears the people who recruit the
gardeners are also Vietnamese, but police are still trying to learn
the identity of the main leaders. They could be members of motorcycle
gangs, she said.

Dawson said that, generally speaking, the children apprehended
following the drug raids have been well-fed and well-dressed, and did
not appear to be abused or neglected.

But he said there are other concerns officials must investigate before
determining if the children can be safely returned to their parents,
such as exposure to:

- - Fire risk in the homes, as it requires a lot of electricity to grow
marijuana, so many operators have illegal and overloaded hydro
connections.

- - Carbon dioxide poisoning, as vents in the homes are often closed to
increase carbon dioxide levels to boost marijuana plant growth.

- - Criminal activity, such as whether the children helped to grow the
marijuana or acted as look-outs.

- - Violence, firearms and other risks associated with the booming
business.

Last week, the war on pot escalated with more than 90 police officers
from 12 law-enforcement agencies raiding 24 homes in Vancouver,
Burnaby and Surrey.

They arrested 18 men and 13 women who face a variety of charges,
including production of a controlled substance, possession for the
purpose of trafficking, and possession of the proceeds of crime.

Police seized the 25 children, along with $2.5 million worth of
marijuana, growing equipment and stolen property.

On Friday, police raided four more homes with marijuana growing
operations -- all within a block of Waverley elementary school in east
Vancouver.

Two women and two children, aged four and five, discovered in the most
recent raids were relocated by the ministry to other homes, Drennan
said.

RCMP Chief Superintendent David Douglas, who was named Friday as the
new head of B.C.'s Organized Crime Agency, said large-scale marijuana
growers are part of bigger organized crime groups, which include
outlaw motorcycle gangs. The B.C. bud is exchanged for cocaine in the
U.S., and the drug-profit money finances other organized crime.

Although drug prosecutions have doubled between 1998 and 1999, pot
growers continue to expand rapidly, he said.

In the arrests last week, police made one major dent by charging a man
considered to be one of the leaders -- he is alleged to be responsible
for more than 40 marijuana-growing operations.

"We have to target the actual syndicates that are setting these up.
This is not a cultural thing, this is about making money, it's about
greed. That's what organized crime is all about," Douglas said.

Immigration spokesman Rob Johnston said he could not comment on status
of the arrested Vietnamese people.

However, he said if they were not Canadian citizens, an investigation
would be launched, which could lead to their deportation.

He said any of the children who were born in Canada cannot be
deported, although often if parents are forced to leave they will take
their families with them.

Sergeant Randy Elliott, of the Organized Crime Agency, said he
believes the courts should be handing out much stiffer sentences for
growing operations, a situation police hope to address.