FOURTH GROW-OP BUST IN DOON

Kitchener -- With yet another suburban marijuana grow operation busted on the
weekend, police are asking neighbours to report any dubious activity.

"We can't possibly know where every grow op is," said Insp. Bryan
Larkin of Waterloo Regional Police yesterday. "So when people phone
and give us (a tip) it allows us to drill down a little bit and see
whether or not it is indeed a grow op."

In the fourth big marijuana bust in a month in Kitchener's Doon South
neighbourhood, police seized 254 marijuana plants from 464 Thomas Slee
Drive.

The plants have a total street value of about $250,000, Larkin
said.

Police arrived at the home, in a new subdivision just off Doon South
Drive, on Saturday around 6 a.m.

The growers had been bypassing hydro for the operation, Sgt. Robert
Gibson said at the scene.

No arrests were made. Police continue to investigate connections to
three other operations.

"We're looking at the links because quite honestly, everyone knows
it's all in the same neighbourhood," Gibson said.

Last weekend police found more than 960 plants in a Knox Court home,
one day after uncovering 1,000 plants from a home on Pine Valley
Drive. On Aug. 20, police dismantled a grow op with 659 plants.

Six people charged in the Knox Court and Pine Valley Drive operations
were all from Toronto.

"We have said there are striking similarities to the other grow ops in
the way they're laid out," Larkin said.

He would not elaborate on details of similarities, or whether there
are more operations in the Doon area.

"We're not able to put a definitive on it because we're not
sure."

Most neighbours on the new street, which backs onto corn fields, were
surprised to see the numbers of police.

"I thought we were in a smaller community, not like Toronto or
Hamilton," said Matt McIver, who lives a couple of houses away on
Southridge Drive with his wife and toddler. "It's not something I'd
ever think I'd have to look for."

McIver was taking apart his barbecue when his brother and
sister-in-law, who live on Thomas Slee Drive, called to tell him about
the grow op.

"As a community we're going to have to keep our eyes open," he said.
"No one wants to live in a neighbourhood where there's grow
operations."

Craig Holland said neighbours had noticed some odd activity at the
house. "Maybe I'm not so surprised," he said.

Holland was pulling his daughter Lauren, 1, in a red wagon Saturday
morning, with his three-year-old son, Aidan, riding his bicycle beside
them.

"What is one supposed to do?" he said, shrugging.

"I don't want to guess how many other single houses out there in this
development are also operating (grow ops)."

Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro dismantled the hydro bypass.

Drug squad officers found "quite similar" growing equipment to the
other operations, Gibson said, including lights, air equipment,
dehumidifiers and carbon dioxide producers, which boost plant growth.

Officers wore white suits and masks to protect themselves from
chemicals and plant residue.

Gibson said there was an "indication of some temporary habitation" at
the house, but it didn't look like anyone lived there for any length
of time.

Crystal Clement, who lives a few houses down from the grow op, said
she's worried about how all the drug activity might affect property
values.

It's going to make the whole neighbourhood a little more cautious, she
said.

"It will make us leery of neighbours we don't know very well," she
said. "We'll be less likely to brush off something that seems odd."

Police continue to investigate. Anyone with information can call
Waterloo Regional Police at 519-650-8500 or Crime Stoppers at
1-800-222-TIPS.