ENEMIES DROPPING DIMES ON GROW-OPS

Running a marijuana grow operation in your house isn't easy. It's not just
cops and thieves you have to worry about. You can also be undone by
vengeful acquaintances intent on bringing your criminal activities to the
attention of the law.

An example of that likely occurred about 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, when police
received an anonymous 911 tip that four masked males with guns were
breaking into a house in the 2600-block of East 45th Avenue.

The police's emergency response team surrounded the house, but discovered
no sign of forced entry. Inside the house was a lone male-and a small
marijuana grow-op.

Const. Sarah Bloor, a media liaison officer for the Vancouver police
department, said while there is no evidence someone tied to the drug trade
tattled on the suspect, retribution in organized crime comes in many forms.

"Could it be a possibility [that he was set up]? Sure," Bloor said. "We
know it wasn't a home invasion, as reported."

Since marijuana grow-ops began to flourish in the city in the mid-1990s,
police have discovered that 911 calls reporting home invasions, shots fired
outside a house or burglaries often lead to the discovery of a grow-op.

Bloor said she hears investigators' anecdotal reports that the initial
reason for responding to a particular call was not related to a grow-op,
but police don't keep statistics on the phenomenon.

Last year, Vancouver police busted about 400 grow-ops, many based on tips
from the public through Crime Stoppers, an anonymous tip line.

Though it's difficult to determine how many calls come from those
associated with the drug trade, police believe criminals are more likely to
make bogus 911 calls than calls to Crimestoppers.

Most large-scale grow-ops are operated by some form of organized crime, and
depending on the number of plants and operations, several people would know
about the illegal activity.

While tattling on a grow operator is one way a disgruntled associate can
seek retribution, assembling a team to rip off the operator's plants
appears to be more common.

In the past few months, Richmond and Surrey have been hit hard by
"grow-rippers" breaking into more than 20 homes and stealing marijuana
plants. In some of those cases, thieves targeted the wrong house, or broke
into a house that used to contain a grow-op.

In Vancouver, Bloor said, there have been cases where occupants of grow-ops
homes have been assaulted, although many more cases are likely never
reported to police.

Police estimate there are more than 5,000 grow-ops in the city, producing
millions of dollars a year in illegal profits.

The bud, which currently sells from $2,500 to $3,200 a pound, can be traded
for cocaine and guns. Last Friday, B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman told
the Vancouver Board of Trade that locally grown bud is financing guns used
by Afghan insurgents.