GROW WATCH SCORES GROW-OP TAKE-DOWN

Grow-watchers on Fairfield Island watched (and sniffed), and reported, and
then Chilliwack's drug squad pounced.

Nearly 850 marijuana plants were seized by police at a Fairbanks Crescent
home last week, believed to be the first grow-op bust credited to
Chilliwack's new Grow Watch program.

"It didn't come in the traditional way" with a report to the detachment,
says RCMP Const. Steve Hiscoe, "but in the spirit of what Grow Watch is
meant to be - that's exactly what happened."

He says RCMP drug strike force officers were investigating another
suspected grow-op in the neighbourhood on Killarney Street, when some of
the residents told them about the suspicious house on Fairbanks Crescent,
just two doors away.

"People out walking their dogs at night, I think they could smell
marijuana" venting from the home, Const. Hiscoe says.

Police obtained a search warrant on July 28 and discovered the 848 pot
plants and grow equipment inside the home. No one was in the home at the
time, but the police investigation continues.

The Grow Watch program in Chilliwack, believed the first in B.C., was
launched last month to inform Chilliwack residents how to spot a grow-op
and report it to police investigators to discourage grow-operators entering
their neighbourhood.

Police found 218 marijuana plants at the Killarney Drive home during the
July 27 search. No one has been arrested in that case either, but the
police investigation continues.

Suspected marijuana grow-ops in your neighbourhood can be reported to the
Chilliwack RCMP at 604-792-4611, or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).