CRIME NIPPING GROW OPERATIONS IN THE BUD

In the past four months, a federally funded RCMP task force has
busted 27 grow-ops and confiscated more than 54,000 marijuana
plants in a region covering 100 Mile House to Prince George.

RCMP Federal Drug Enforcement Branch (FDEB) spokesperson Const.
Michael McLaughlin made the announcement in Prince George on Dec. 3.

Twenty-four suspects have been arrested during the raids, which began
Sept. 7, and charges are pending further investigation. Police also
seized half a dozen unregistered firearms during the busts.

It was noted the Cariboo Region Inte-grated Marijuana Enforcement
(CRIME) Task Force was formed to fight the problem of commercial-scale
marijuana grow-ops, which are 33 per cent larger than they used to be.

CRIME is also a response to a 300 per cent increase in complaints from
people living in the region between May 2009 and September 2010.
During this timeframe, there was a 60 per cent increase in police
investigations into grow-ops in the Cariboo.

The task force consists of some 25 officers from the RCMP FDEB,
Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit and drug investigators from
100 Mile House, Williams Lake, Quesnel and Prince George.

100 Mile House RCMP S/Sgt. Brian Coldwell said Monday that marijuana
cultivation investigations more than doubled in this detachment area
because it was set as a priority during 2008/09.

"When we became aware of the size of the problem in our area, we
started to actively target those operations. But, we were limited in
the scope of our budget and the manpower we could use.

"We're a provincial detachment, we have a budget and we are supposed
to operate within that budget. These grow operations are expensive in
terms of the amount of manpower that's required to combat them."

Because of the amount of money they were spending on the
investigations, Coldwell said they took the problem to the Cariboo
Regional District, Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett and Kamloops-
Thompson-Cariboo MP Cathy McLeod.

"Donna Barnett was instrumental in bringing attention to the matter,
which resulted in a decision being made by the North District
commander to look at the situation and to get some help from our
federal partners."

This led to CRIME being formed using federal money through RCMP's drug
section, Coldwell said, adding it's supported by provincial resources,
including manpower from the provincial detachments in the Cariboo.

During this timeframe, he noted the local detachment has executed six
search warrants in its coverage area.

Coldwell said they have been getting some information through the
Crime Stoppers program, but investigators had also been watching some
suspects for a while.

Noting CRIME is a one-year pilot project that began in September,
Coldwell said he doesn't know if it will continue after the year is
up, but he's happy it's here now.

"It means our local members can spend more time in our other areas of
crime fighting."

During last Friday's announcement, it was noted the grow-ops were
linked to local, provincial and international gangs, with a connection
to some Asian groups.

Indications are the pot is being grown for export purposes, with much
of it being transported south of the border in exchange for cocaine
and firearms.

Meanwhile, Coldwell said it's a bigger problem than just growing
marijuana, as there's also the impact on community safety. Police are
concerned about fire hazards when people are stealing power and the
extensive electrical wiring issues involved in the large grow
operations.

CRIME officials announced there are more takedowns and arrests to
come, and the Federal RCMP is actively targeting the senior leaders of
these criminal operations.