LET'S BE CAREFUL OUT THERE, OFFICERS

That we're reading about four Alberta Mounties killed during a raid on a
pothouse rather than four Peel Regional Police officers is nothing but luck.

After all, rarely a week goes by in Peel that another marijuana grow house
isn't taken down by police.

And although there have been no significant local injuries, police
regularly find weapons and booby traps on the houses they raid in Brampton
and Mississauga.

And we're sure they'll now be taking extra precautions whenever they enter
a suspected grow house.

After all, most of these grow houses are run by organized crime. The
average petty criminal doesn't have the resources or knowledge to convert a
house into a profitable pot-growing lab.

But supported by the vast resources of any of a number of criminal
organizations, grow houses are flourishing in our largely suburban community.

Make no mistake, these operations are expensive and difficult to set up.
Once established, with a good cover story for neighbours, it makes sense
that the owner/operators would want to protect their investment.

And even if getting into a gun battle with the Peel Tactical Unit isn't the
way to go, anything they do to dissuade police from bothering them is
something that will reflect well on their bottom line.

Urban police forces, particularly Peel's, have done a great job ferreting
out these grow labs and taking them down with a minimum of fuss.

We hope they continue to do their excellent job of closing down these
illegal and dangerous operations and they continue to do it with safety
being paramount.