BUD BUSTERS GET BOOST

Vowing to take "much more aggressive action" in the effort to shut
down marijuana growers and the thugs looking to rip them off, the
Richmond RCMP announced Tuesday it will temporarily boost the size of
its marijuana team.

RCMP Insp. Tony Mahon told councillors on the city's community safety
committee that there's been a "huge increase" in the percentage of
grow rippers who are targeting the wrong houses and innocent families.

Mahon said police are aware of at least 200 local growing operations,
but with the current resources can only bust two or three every week.

And with the problem predicted to get worse before it gets better, a
decision has been made to take officers from the local drug squad and
insert them into the Green Team, Mahon said. The temporary move is
expected to nearly double the team from its current five members to
nine members.

Mahon said marijuana growers are "feeling threatened" by grow rippers,
the police term used to describe groups of armed bandits that search
for houses they suspect are growing the lucrative crop. As a result,
growers are now increasingly looking at high rises and multi-family
dwellings in which to produce B.C. bud because access by the general
public, and in turn grow rippers, is relatively limited in these
styles of residences.

Mahon hinted at a clamp down during the early part of this year, but
told councillors he couldn't get into specifics.

"We're looking at taking serious action during the early part of this
year...much more aggressive action."

Richmond's top cop, RCMP Supt. Ward Clapham, told the committee that
perhaps it is time to take a similar approach to marijuana as the city
took toward street racing.

He said measures the city took following the five street-racing
related fatalities in 2002 made a tangible difference. In 2003, when
police focussed on aggressive driving and criminal driving behaviour
and often impounded vehicles caught street racing, there were no
fatalities. Street racers quickly learned that Richmond wasn't the
place to come anymore, judging from comments they made on at least one
internet web site.

"Let's do what we did with street racing. Let's revitalize it and get
tough."

"(Marijuana is) a big issue. We keep talking about it but I don't
think the community understands."

Clapham said organized crime is behind the bulk of the local
problem.

Mahon said the city's clampdown on street racing may have had spin-off
benefits.

The increase presence of police on the roads may have played a role in
the decline in local auto thefts, he said. In 2003, local auto thefts
dropped 44 per cent compared to 2002.

Coun. Evelina Halsey-Brandt applauded the RCMP's success in fighting
street racing. "Congratulations. That type of success is phenomenal."