LAX LAWS ATTRACT GROW-OP GANGS

Police forces on both sides of the Ottawa River say a large number of
marijuana grow ops are being run by crooks with links to Asian organized
crime. "The majority of the people that we see operating the grow ops in
any type of organized fashion are Asians," said Ottawa police drug section
Staff Sgt. Marc Pinault.

In 2003, Ottawa police busted 41 grow ops, seizing more than $14 million
worth of the illegal drug. So far this year, the force has shut down close
to a dozen grow ops. In Ontario, grow ops are big business, worth an
estimated $13 billion a year.

Although there can be loose organizations running more than one operation,
police say the best organized operations are those run by Vietnamese and
other members of the Asian community.

And police in Gatineau are seeing the same trend.

Gatineau police Lieut. Yves Martel said police have raided seven marijuana
grow ops run by Asians in the past 13 months.

99% Asian

"There is a pattern in the last three years showing us that when we are
talking about rented houses, converted for stealing electricity and
marijuana plantations, almost all the time, 99% of the cases we are
arresting Asian people," Martel said.

Last week, two Vietnamese men connected to two grow ops were arrested and
charged after raids by Gatineau police. Last month, eight Vietnamese people
were charged after police raided two different grow ops in Gatineau.

Sgt. Mike Laviolette, of the Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada, says
Vietnamese-based organized crime locally and across the country has
"thrived" with marijuana grow ops for the past two years.

"We have seen a large influx nationally of Vietnamese Australians coming in
from Australia to crop-sit here in Canada," he said. "It's a large
international network."

But the Vietnamese aren't the only players in the lucrative marijuana
trade, Laviolette says.

"Everybody is into it, because there is just so much money to be made," he
said. "Where we expected to see a lot of infighting is within the different
organized crime groups. There really isn't because there is a big enough
market for everyone."

Sold In U.S.

Laviolette said the bulk of Canada's marijuana is sold in the U.S., where
organized crime groups are exploiting traditional markets they had for
heroin or cocaine.

And running grow ops in Canada is a less risky proposition than it is in
the U.S. "They try it in the States, they are going to jail for a very long
time. Here, politically, it's not considered as serious an offence."

The penalty for running a grow op differs in each province, although Quebec
courts tend to hand out the harshest sentences.

Last week, in an effort to set an example in the wake of seven marijuana
grow op busts involving Asians since January, a Gatineau judge sentenced an
Asian man to 15 months in jail.

Next month, Ontario police chiefs and provincial officials will meet to
discuss ways to tackle the booming grow op business.