MOUNTIES TARGET GABRIOLA'S MARIJUANA TRADE

Police Busted Four Grow-ops Last Month, Including Three In A Single
Day, As They Clamp Down On Pot Production

Mounties are cracking down on marijuana grow-ops on Gabriola
Island.

Police say they busted four operations on the island last month, with
three grow-ops taken down in a single day.

Gabriola RCMP Const. Mike Reid said his detachment is aggressively
targeting marijuana production on Gabriola Island, a trade that one
pot advocate says has deep roots on many Gulf Islands.

"It's a priority we've made for our detachment here, to interrupt the
flow of illegal drugs," said Reid.

Armed with a warrant, Gabriola RCMP searched a home on Little
Boulevard on Jan. 24 and discovered "a few" growing marijuana plants
and growing equipment, as well as dried, packaged marijuana located in
a two-storey building that Reid says was specifically built to grow
pot. He would not say exactly how many plants were found. Three men
were arrested following the search.

Police say they also discovered an unrelated growing operation at a
home next door after officers noticed "evidence" was being destroyed,
said Reid. A search of the property uncovered 18 marijuana plants. A
man was arrested at the scene.

RCMP also had a warrant to search a second home located on McClay Way
that same day, which Reid said turned up more than 70 plants and about
two pounds of dried marijuana in an "outbuilding" located on the
property. A man was also arrested.

Reid said police believe the growing operations at both homes are
related. Two of the men arrested were in Canada on expired Visas from
Britain, he said, and were also arrested by Gabriola RCMP under the
Immigration Act.

All four men will make court appearances in Nanaimo in May, with RCMP
recommending charges of production of a controlled substance and
possession for the purpose of trafficking for each of them.

The neighbour arrested for allegedly growing 18 plants faces one
charge of production of a controlled substance.

This busy day for police came less than two weeks after they seized
407 marijuana plants that were growing in a building in the Whalebone
area of Gabriola Island on Jan. 15. A 35-year-old man was arrested for
production of a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of
trafficking. His first court appearance is in mid-April.

Nanaimo RCMP assisted in all four of these situations.

Reid said that the community has been appreciative of the RCMP
following the arrests, but the frequency of the busts have caused
"quite a stir" among residents in the area.

"It is unique. I don't know if we've had a double-warrant day in a
number of years here," he said.

Nanaimo marijuana advocate Richard Payne, who also provides medicinal
pot to sick people, said there's a deep-rooted "hippy culture" that
involves marijuana on Gabriola and other Gulf Islands. He said because
there are fewer officers, growers on these islands may have let their
guards down.

"I think they got a little complacent, thought they were a little too
safe," he said.