NRP CRACKING DOWN ON GUNS, GANGS AND GROWS

It's tough to think of a better use of police resources than to
create a dedicated team to target guns, gangs and illegal drug operations.

And that is the intent of a new five-person unit being developed by
the Niagara Regional Police, which will be trained and equipped to
deal specifically with drug houses and the illicit activities surrounding them.

The unit, known informally as Guns, Gangs and Grows, is a key weapon
in the war against organized crime.

While organized crime has always been a concern for law enforcement
officials, its presence in Niagara grew considerably in 2001 when the
Hells Angels set up shop in Welland.

Police can draw a direct line from marijuana grow operations and
other drug manufacturing facilities to the financing of organized
crime groups like the Hells Angels.

A solid strategy for combatting organized crime is to cut off the
supply of money.

If that money comes in part from profits of drug sales, it makes
sense to attack the production of the drugs in an effort to strangle
the flow of cash. Marijuana grow operations began to take a foothold
in southern Ontario about six years ago and quickly grew into a major
problem for police services.

Niagara police have busted 20 grow operations in the region this
year, including three in the past week (one each in Pelham, Niagara
Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake).

Police have also noticed a trend towards smaller grow-ops in an
effort to get around the massive amounts of electricity required to
power a large-scale operation.

But the mandate of the Guns, Gangs and Grows team extends beyond just
marijuana as it anticipates the new trend of chemical labs for the
production of crystal meth and the extraction of hash oil.

As the name of the unit indicates, it will also be equipped to handle
the guns, legal or otherwise, which are invariably present at an
illegal drug operation.

As NRP Staff-Sgt. George Ravenek said, "The drugs tie into the gangs
tie into the grows. So many things tie those food groups of crime together."

Operating under the umbrella of the NRP's intelligence unit, the
Guns, Gangs and Grows team will also help alleviate some of the work
normally done by the street crime unit.

With the new team taking on the labour-intensive task of
investigating and building a case against grow-ops and drug labs, the
street crime unit is left with more resources to handle everything
from property crime to assistance in homicides.

For the law-abiding citizens of Niagara, there is little downside to
more vigilance against the organized drug trade and the illegal
activities that accompany it.

And while we don't expect every bust by the Guns, Gangs and Grows
team to be front page news, we do expect we'll be hearing much from
it in the coming months.