MYSTERY HOUSE UPDATE

On The Fence

This week's edition of The Chief features the start of a series on the
dangers of an illegal drug commonly known as crystal meth. Ours is a
growing town with growing problems and we as a community need to be aware
of the destructive powers of the illegal drug trade.

The piece by Sylvie Paillard keeps the issue top of mind and through the
four-part series of articles she is working on and the April 11 town forum
the issue will stay in the spotlight.

The piece this week reminded me of my plan to keep readers posted on a
suspicious house in my neighbourhood. I wrote about the home last year and
the piece generated some reader reaction. One reader felt I was labeling
every home in the community in need of some maintenance as being a meth lab
or marijuana grow operation.

But, my neighbours labeled the home at the other end of my street a den of
illegal activity because of the inactivity and not necessarily just the
owner's neglect of the yard and the exterior.

The home doesn't look very nice and it continues to be neglected, but the
most telling thing is the fact nobody ever seems to come or go from the home.

Two trucks parked in the back yard haven't moved in years and there is junk
stacked in front of the garage door. The junk never moves so it appears no
vehicles ever go in or out of the garage. I haven't seen a vehicle in the
driveway for well over six months.

On garbage day I have a habit of checking to see if the junk truck stopped
at the shabby looking house. I can't remember the last time the trash can
sitting outside the garage made its way to the end of the driveway.

It is painfully obvious the house is not occupied.

Perhaps the owner of the house is either independently wealthy and sitting
on the property as an investment -- or perhaps the mortgage, if the owner
has one, and taxes on the home are financed through whatever activity takes
place inside.

My daily drives by the house constantly remind me of the challenges law
enforcement faces when it comes to the trade in illegal drugs.

Members of the RCMP are as suspicious of the house as I am and I'm sure the
police would love to get in there and have a look around.

Until there is a solid legal reason to enter the home, though, no judge
will issue a search warrant, so if there is illegal activity taking place
within those walls the people committed the illegal act are doing an
excellent job of staying under the radar.

For more than five years now this home has quietly sat seemingly unoccupied.

When Sylvie showed me some of her research on grow ops and an ingredient
list for crystal meth my mind went right to ugly house at the other end of
my street.