MARIJUANA RAIDS RISING

Police Seize 668 Plants As Eaglemere Drive Grow-Op Busted

CITY police believe Winnipeg is well on its way to surpassing the number of
marijuana grow operations raided last year -- a sign pot growers will not
give up their lucrative crops anytime soon.

The latest seizure happened yesterday when drug unit officers uprooted a
grow-op on Eaglemere Drive in North Kildonan. Police seized 668 plants that
had a potential street value of $1.8 million.

With the seizure -- police only put a fraction of the plants out for
display for the media yesterday -- the drug unit has now confiscated more
than $3 million in pot since Jan. 1.

Drug unit Staff Sgt. Danny Smyth said in all of 2002, police seized $11.5
million in marijuana from grow operations uncovered in the city. Last year,
police got 108 grow operations -- roughly one every three or four days.

Smyth said most of the dozen grows found so far this year were in
residential areas. Some of the operations were big, others just for
personal use.

Police also say no neighbourhood is immune from clandestine pot growers,
many connected to the Hells Angels or Asian-based crime crime groups. "They
are in every area of the city," police spokesperson Const. Shelley Glover said.

Police say the house on Eaglemere was used solely to harvest pot. Almost
every inch of its 1,464-square-foot main floor and basement was fitted with
hydroponic growing and drying equipment. Officers also seized about $16,000
in cash.

What police did not comment on was how long the Eaglemere grow was in
operation. However, Glover did say a significant level of mould was found
in the walls of the nine-year-old home.

Mould is caused by the high humidity of hydroponic marijuana grow
operations, and the mould at Eaglemere is sign it was in business for a
long time. Neighbours said the home's inhabitants had been living there for
more than a year.

"They were pleasant to us," a neighbour said. "They always nodded when they
saw you. They always put their garbage and recyclables out."

Another neighbour recently became suspicious of the home after noticing the
furnace never shut off.

"There was always smoke coming out of the chimney," one said. "One of the
neighbours was worried it might cause a problem so she called Hydro. Hydro
said they'd take care of it."

Glover and drug unit investigators also declined to comment on whether the
grow-house was connected to an organized crime group. A member of the Hells
Angels lives with his father about 10 houses away from the grow op, but
that's a coincidence, police say.

In earlier interviews, police said they believed an Asian-based crime group
was behind the fast spread of grow operations in Winnipeg, The most recent
raid before yesterday's was Feb. 4 at a home in White Ridge.

Police found 520 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of
$873,000 at the home on Vineland Crescent. Two women and a man were
arrested and charged with producing and possessing marijuana for the
purpose of trafficking.

The other big seizure so far this year was Jan. 12 when police found more
than 300 plants, worth about $336,000 if sold on the street, at a rented
home on the 200 block of Harbison Avenue in East Kildonan. A 24-year-old
man has been charged with cultivation and trafficking.

Smyth said police are concerned about grow-ops because of public safety
issues. He said the operations are prone to fires and can be targeted by
violent criminals hoping to steal marijuana. Some of the crooks target the
wrong house and terrorize innocent people. Winnipeg is not the only
Canadian city seeing a boom in marijuana production. Police seizures across
the nation are steadily increasing, including seizures of marijuana being
transported from British Columbia to eastern Canada.

For instance, RCMP in Virden seized 57 kilos of marijuana after a car
accident yesterday on the Trans-Canada Highway.

Mounties spotted bags of marijuana being placed in larger containers by two
men at the scene. One of the men was sent to hospital for treatment of
minor injuries from the accident and the vehicle was towed back to the
Virden detachment.

The seizures in Manitoba and elsewhere come at a time when Prime Minister
Paul Martin is planning to reintroduce legislation drafted by his
predecessor, Jean Chretien, that decriminalizes possession of up to 15
grams of marijuana.

The Canadian Professional Police Association has said before anything is
done to liberalize marijuana laws, Ottawa has to create a national drug
strategy that gives police more tools to crack down on the organized crime
groups behind the drug trade.

On the house on Eaglemere, there was no outward sign the home was used to
produce marijuana: It looks like any other house in the new subdivision
between Molson Street and Lagimodiere Boulevard. The registered owner of
the home -- its assessed value is $125,100 -- could not be reached for comment.

[NAME DELETED], 36, and [NAME DELETED], 41, were arrested at the house and
have been detained in custody. They have been charged with production of
marijuana and trafficking. They have also been charged with theft of hydro,
as the meter had been bypassed to power the artificial lighting and
watering equipment.