4 MORE POT OPS NAILED

12 West Lodge Ave. Apartments Raided

Four more marijuana grow operations have been discovered in a west-Toronto
apartment complex. The Toronto Police 14 Division vice squad launched raids
on Wednesday, bringing the number of scuttled grow operations at the
apartment buildings at 103 and 105 West Lodge Ave. to an even dozen. The
buildings are located in the Queen St.-Lansdowne Ave. area.

Information about the drug businesses came from tenants after a raid on
Sunday, when police found eight dope operations.

Now, the next phase for police begins with work to identify and arrest the
people who leased the apartments.

Police seized about 1,200 plants in total from both raids. The total value
of the marijuana is estimated at $600,000.

The first eight units were located directly above and below each other and
were linked by hundreds of feet of electrical wires. Police also found
hydro boxes that rerouted power from the 240-volt plugs for stoves.

"We had to bring in Toronto Hydro, because three of them were dangerously
hooked up," 14 Division vice Det. Howie Page said.

"Because of how sophisticated it is, our best belief is that it is
connected with Asian organized crime," Page said. "All indications appear
to be a Vietnamese ring."

Some of the apartments also had exhaust systems connected with the
buildings' ventilation system.

"Unbelievable," said Page. "We methodically went through every unit from
top to bottom in both units. All 12 were interconnected," he said.