POT GROW OPERATIONS FUEL ORGANIZED CRIME BOOM, RCMP WARNS

HALIFAX - Organized crime groups are extending their reach across Canada by
merging with other outlaw gangs, using more sophisticated technology to
conduct fraud and expanding lucrative marijuana grow operations, says a new
intelligence report.

Mobs and biker gangs continue to rank as the most active criminal
organizations as they move into high-tech money-laundering pursuits and
boost their involvement in illicit marijuana cultivation, says the document
prepared by Criminal Intelligence Service Canada.

"I don't think in this country people are aware of the seriousness posed by
grow operations," RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli said yesterday
after releasing the report in Halifax.

"The highest level of criminal organizations are involved in this and there
are huge amounts of money being made."

The lure of large profits from marijuana is attracting a widening array of
groups, setting off violent turf wars and increasing the dangers to police
called in to investigate sites, said one official.

Regions across the country are finding marijuana operations expanding into
both rural and urban areas, creating threats for residential neighbourhoods
that sometimes get caught in the middle of police standoffs or disputes
between rival gangs, the report says.

Toronto police Chief Julian Fantino said the rise of pot operations is
especially frustrating because they are becoming more pervasive and are
being treated far too lightly by the justice system.

"The sentences that these people are receiving in the courts are totally
and absolutely inadequate and in no way reflect the seriousness of this
particular and very difficult crime," Fantino said.

"It's almost a casual offence and that's my issue."

He was unable to say what the average fine was for illegal cultivation, but
said punishments were as lenient as house arrest or minimal jail time.

The report also highlighted the vulnerability of ports and said biker gangs
and mob associations continue to use ports to import drugs, firearms,
luxury cars and other contraband.

But Yves Lavigne, an expert in biker organizations, said the perceived
threat at ports is overblown since the police have arrested very few
members of the Hells Angels or other gang members for port-related offences.

"The message in this report is that the police are failing to stop the
growth in any way of organized crime and what needs to be done is a total
overhaul of how law enforcement operates against organized crime," Lavigne
said in an interview from Toronto.

Lavigne, whose book Hells Angels at War was published in 1999, also
disputed the report's claim that outlaw motorcycle gangs have been
seriously disrupted by police crackdowns.