THIS BUD'S NOT FOR YOU

The Kelowna RCMP's "green team" is making marijuana growers see red after a
series of raids netted the drug unit a serious amount of pot. Police
confiscated 65 pounds of dope from a single grow op in the Glenrosa area
Wednesday

"We've just taken down three more in the last hour and a half," Don Powell
of the Kelowna drug unit said Thursday afternoon. Between Wednesday and
Thursday, police raided six grow ops in the Central Okanagan

Hundreds of plants have been confiscated and several people are facing charges

Powell said the Kelowna drug unit is working with police in Westbank and
Lake Country to target grow ops

"These are not hippies growing plants to get stoned," said Powell, standing
next to a garbage bag containing an estimated seven kilograms (15 pounds)
of dried bud that was ready for sale

"These will be broken down and shipped to the States, and cocaine and
sometimes firearms will come back." Powell said there is a proven link
between large marijuana grow operations and organized crime. Some of the
pot is sold on the streets of Kelowna, but a large percentage of it is
destined for the United States

"This is organized crime. This is not a mom-and-pop grow op," said Powell,
adding outlaw motorcycle gangs, Asian gangs or other organized crime groups
are behind the operations

But the people who organize the grow ops don't actually tend the crop.
Powell said caretakers are hired to care for the plants, and once a person
becomes involved in the operation, there is no getting out

When the police show up, it is those in the house who are charged. Powell
said growing pot in B.C. and shipping it to the United States is preferred
by drug dealers because the punishment in the States is much stiffer than
in Canada, making it worth the risk of smuggling the dope across the border

In B.C., marijuana sells for between $2,000 and $2,800 a pound, where as in
Washington state it can sell for as much as $6,000 a pound

B.C. bud, as it is commonly known, is hailed as the best in the world and
is in demand, making for high profits

Grow ops are also hazardous to the policeand neighbours of the dope house.
Electrical bypasses are often used and present an electrocution and fire hazard

On an average, six to 10 officers will raid a grow op. But, in some cases,
Powell said the bad guys outnumber them, making for a dangerous situation

Powell said weapons - handguns, knives, bear spray - are often found at the
grow houses

Bruce Baron of Crime Stoppers said about 100 tips a year come in about grow
operations

"Last year, half our tips were on drugs and half of those were on grow
ops," he said. Crime Stoppers also forwards tips on cocaine dealing and
other hard drugs

Baron said the information is passed on to police,who then investigate and
attempt to gather enough evidence to get a search warrant.