KEEPING AN EYE OUT FOR GROW-OPS

Rural Areas In Northern Alberta Considered Prime Property By Those In
The Business Of Growing Pot

With summer in full swing and growing season upon us, RCMP in Alberta
are asking residents in rural areas to be on the lookout for a type of
criminal activity that comes along this time of year - outdoor
marijuana growing operations.

"We use all the conventional investigative techniques that we have at
our disposal and we also partner with other agencies, such as the
Canadian military, insofar as identifying the locations of these
grow-ops," said Cpl. Rick Goldstein of the RCMP, adding some of these
grow operations have yielded busts of a thousand or more plants.

"The only thing that really limits them is how well they're able to
conceal it and how much land and how much water source they have at
their disposal," Goldstein said.

H said that some of the ususal tell-tale signs - such as stealing
electricity or bypassing water meters - that work in favour of
police in an urban setting are often missing in rural areas, where
grow-ops use a natural light source and water from sources like wells
and creeks.

That's where the public comes in - helping police uncover concealed,
and often sophisticated, grow operations in sparsely populated areas.
Some signs to watch out for include:

* Odd activity along tree and bush lines such as digging shallow
post holes for plant pots.

* Low, tarped buildings and makeshift greenhouses in unusual
locations. These buildings may have camouflage netting over them and
are often built with arched rebar or plastic tubing.

* No trash accumulation for long periods of time, then a lot all at
once.

* Strong smells, reminiscent of a family of skunks inhabiting the
area, throughout the summer.

* People hauling excessive amounts of potting soil to rural
locations.

* Unfriendly occupants who keep odd hours and have excessive
security. Police say an example of this would be an occupant who comes
twice a week for a couple of hours to an acreage with new, locking
gates, cattle guards and no livestock.

Police also warn remote locations - such as old homesteads with
water sources like dugouts, creeks and sloughs, as well as clearings
in wooded areas - accessed by trucks and quads equipped with water
tanks - are preferred by marijuana growers.

Mounties are asking anyone who has information on an outdoor marijuana
grow operation to contact Grande Prairie RCMP, the Edmonton Green Team,
or Crime Stoppers.