MARIJUANA GROWERS LIKE RITZY BRITISH PROPERTIES

The promise of privacy has lured the affluent to the British
Properties ever since the wealthy Guinness family built the Lions Gate
Bridge in 1938 to help sell its suburb.

But West Vancouver police say this characteristic -- spacious houses
on large, treed lots -- is now attracting criminals with
marijuana-growing operations.

Constable Jim Bailey, a member of a "target team" that conducts
surveillance of drug traffickers, says no other neighbourhood in West
Vancouver has as many marijuana-growing operations.

The illegal business in West Vancouver is small compared to that in
Surrey, Langley and Vancouver, but police discovered 12 marijuana
growing operations in the municipality last year.

Ten of them were in the British Properties.

"The properties are very secluded, and that's sought after," Bailey
said in an interview.

Bailey said all of the operators arrested in West Vancouver had rented
houses, because they didn't want to own assets that could be seized
under the federal proceeds-of-crime law.

Nor did they have their own furniture. Bailey showed police photos of
a luxurious living room with a large-screen television, leather
furniture and fancy rugs, furnished by a rental company.

Another reason for renting is that large-scale marijuana growing
operations damage a house. The walls are lined with white plastic to
keep in the heat from 1,000-watt light bulbs. Moisture-laden air rots
the walls as badly as those in a leaky condo, even though fans and
exhaust vents are used to get rid of the oxygen produced by the
plants. Growers also steal electricity to avoid detection and
extremely high hydro bills, creating hazards that can lead to house
fires.

Bailey said the houses typically chosen by growers aren't the
high-end, monster homes in the properties, which can rent for $5,000 a
month.

Usually, the choice is a less opulent, 25-or-30-year-old house, which
rents for $1,500 to $2,500.

Margaret Worthy, who was president of the British Properties Area
Homeowners Association until last month, said growing operations in
the neighbourhood are a "source of amazement" for longtime residents.

"There seem to be more absentee homeowners and perhaps we don't all
know our neighbours the way we used to," Worthy said. "Those are some
of the aims of the association, to make people feel like they belong."

At the association's annual general meeting in November, no concerns
were expressed about growing operations. But Worthy said residents did
speak out about absentee homeowners with overgrown shrubbery and
neglected, untidy homes.

Jim McLean, president of British Pacific Properties, the company that
developed the suburb decades ago, said he doesn't know how many homes
are now rented.

McLean suggested that police may have discovered more growing
operations in the British Properties because its residents are more
vigilant.

"This is a very established high-end community, with some properties
selling for $10 million," he noted. "No doubt the neighbours see
something and turn them in. Therefore, the police probably get more
tips in the properties than they might in Surrey, where there are
gates and less visibility."

The police department's Block Watch coordinator is preparing a list of
things people can look for. Bailey hopes that residents will report
suspicious activities, so police can investigate.

For example, newcomers may live in a large house, but not have a
family. They may have new cars in the driveway, but don't seem to
keep regular work hours. They come and go at odd hours.

Typically, the growers live upstairs, while their crop is on the
bottom floor or basement.

"Part of the home is never opened up," Bailey said. "The drapes are
usually closed."

A neglected yard is another indicator of a possible growing
operation.

"They don't have the time to care for the yard or the home, because
their business is the house, taking care of the crop," Bailey said.

So far, the largest growing operation discovered in West Vancouver
contained 600 plants.

Each plant produces about three ounces of buds, which in turn is sold
on the street for about $1,000. That's $600,000 worth of marijuana in
just one house, and criminals are using new growing techniques that
give them six crops a year.

Bailey said neighbours believe that "dream tenants" have moved in,
because they don't play loud music. But he said growers are simply
trying to keep a low profile and don't want unexpected visits.

"They don't mingle," he said. "They don't want someone to bake them a
pie and come knocking on the door. They just want to live there and
harvest their crop, because that's their business."