GARDEN STORES RAIDED IN POT STINGS

MOST GARDENING shops will help you get rid of weeds but not, according
to police, the two allegedly at the heart of one of the biggest
marijuana rings cops here have ever seen. "This group was pretty
brazen and aggressive in their marketing," Staff-Insp. Dan Hayes
claimed yesterday. "They existed to supply marijuana grows."

Caesar's Gardening Centre at 584 Gordon Baker Rd. and Jade Garden
Trading at 335 Nuggett Ave., along with one of their owners, allegedly
were at the heart of an operation encompassing nearly a quarter of all
the marijuana grow-ops Toronto Police have discovered this year -- 36
out of 168.

The two shops served as recruitment and supply centres for dozens of
illicit plantations, stocking only goods those in the hydroponic trade
would find useful and doing next to nothing in gardening supplies,
police said.

'Gasoline'

Recruits were sought through word of mouth in the Chinese ex-patriate
community.

"They certainly exploit new immigrants who don't have the financial
wherewithal and the supports," Hayes said, calling pot sales the
"gasoline" that fuels organized crime in the country.

"It just shows that ... the sentences that are currently being dealt
out are just absolutely, totally inadequate. This whole business of
marijuana grows has created high profits, low risks -- it's put
Ontario and Canada on the international map for being a source country
for high-quality marijuana.

"It's a real embarrassment and a blemish on our international
reputation."

Cops have been working on "Project Caesar" since January and have
arrested 42 people. Five more are wanted.

The 36 grow houses raided have yielded crops of more than 16,000
marijuana plants worth an estimated $16 million. Hau-Man Albert Chan,
faces 16 charges. Another 41 people face drug-related charges.