GANGS FRANCHISE GROW-OPS

Vietnamese criminals are linking with other, more established gangs in
the Lower Mainland to "franchise" commercial marijuana growing operations.

It's a relatively new phenomenon brought on by the huge amount of
money to be made in the industry, said Coquitlam RCMP Const. Jim Brown.

"The Vietnamese are using the services of different crime groups known
to police," said Brown, a member of Coquitlam's Green Team which
specializes in busting grow operations.

Brown said the Vietnamese are using the Hells Angels and other known
crime bodies as enforcers; to transport the buds, to launder the vast
amounts of money involved, and to store and resell the product.
Meanwhile, groups like the Hells Angels still run their own operations.

But in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam alone, more than half the recent
busts have been linked to Vietnamese organized crime, a familiar
scenario across the Lower Mainland.

Last week the Coquitlam team scooped their biggest bust to date with
raids over three days on 11 sites in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam,
Burnaby and Maple Ridge which netted nearly 3,000 plants worth an
estimated $1.3 million.

Cash, jewelry and various guns, including a laser-equipped handgun and
a sawed-off shotgun with a pistol grip were also seized.

Two men, one of Italian background, and one Vietnamese, face a number
of charges.

It's an all-too-frequent occurrence -- bustsare made daily throughout the
Lower Mainland: In Richmond 2,700 plants were seized on Feb. 17;
in Delta 204 plants were seized on the same date; in Surrey early last
week, 60 plants were seized in a house .

The marijuana growing industry's growth can be blamed partly on lack
of co-operation among different law-enforcement agencies.

But Brown said this is changing. Last week a joint-forces operation
that involved U.S. Customs nailed eight more marijuana operations,
$1.4 million in pot and the packing and distribution centre --- a
first. "I think you'll see a lot more joint forces operations," he
said.

Conservative police estimates put the number of indoor grow operations
at about 7,000 in the Lower Mainland alone, and total pot cultivation,
including outdoor plots, in Canada at $18 billion.

"There's no question that organized crime groups are into grow-ops,"
said Staff Sgt. Chuck Doucette, RCMP drug awareness
co-ordinator.

He said the rash of grow ops is due to a number of
factors:

> Relatively minor penalties,

> The high demand for B.C. pot at $2,000 per pound,

> Until recently, a low policing priority,

> Marijuana use is socially accepted in B.C.

Now that local police forces have established that organized crime is
behind the bulk of the operations, federal resources are being brought
into the fight against the burgeoning grow-ops.

Cash Crop

Marijuana commercial grow "franchises" are generally set up in "cells"
where a main player recruits a number of people who rent homes or warehouses.

Then someone with a knowledge of electricity sets up the equipment,
about $15,000 for a house operation. They will often steal power from
B.C. Hydro by bypassing the meter.

Another establishes the plants.

A "gardener" tends the plants, sometimes going from home to home,
across municipal boundaries, sometimes, but not always, living in one
of the homes.

A single house can generate half a million dollars annually from the
"Kong" or super plants which can grow almost to the size of a typical
in-home Christmas tree.

The plants are harvested about every eight weeks and the buds are
bagged and sent to the U.S. and across Canada.

If police are tipped to the operation, it's usually the "gardener" who
is charged. But police are seldom led up the chain to the original
criminal mastermind.

Every police force in the Lower Mainland knows of dozens, if not
hundreds of possible grow ops in their municipalities that they are
just too busy to get to.

"What we're doing is running from one end of the dike to the other,
sticking our fingers in as many holes as we can," said Coquitlam
RCMP's Jim Brown.

Ran with factbox entitled "CASH CROP" which is appended to the end of
the story.