YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD DRUG HOUSE

Langley RCMP's drug section was back in the upscale Hillcrest neighbourhood
this week -- to dismantle five more marijuana grow operations in homes worth
up to $450,000.

The grow-op busts took place in homes that are just houses apart from each
other at 223A Street and 50 Avenue. This week's busts bring the total to 12
in the past 15 months in this neighbourhood.

Within 10 of the warrants that have been executed by police, approximately
3,000 plants have been seized. That's an average of 300 plants per house,
which nets about 50 pounds of sellable marijuana every 90 days, police say.
According to reports, 50 pounds of pot nets about $350,000.

Langley RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Dale Carr said a diligent
neighbourhood watch is the reason these homes were raided by police.

"All three warrants (on Tuesday) were the results of tips from people who
reported suspicious activity within these homes. It's a rare thing to find
that much activity in one neighbourhood," Carr said about the number of
grow-ops concentrated in the three-street subdivision.

"It appears as though the homes are being purchased for the sole purpose of
producing marijuana, as there is no sign of the homes being occupied on a
full-time basis."

A total of 1,300 plants were seized, along with a large amount of growing
equipment. Three males and two females of Vietnamese origin were arrested.
They were released later Tuesday with a promise to appear in April to face
charges of cultivation of a controlled substance and theft of hydro.

"When the house was first built an elderly couple lived there, but for the
past two years there has been no activity, no movement except for the odd
car pulling up late at night," said Hillcrest neighbour Jim Corbet about one
of the grow houses.

Corbet said he wasn't surprised that a grow-op was found across the street.
It's actually part of the reason he's selling his own home. "It's a
beautiful, quiet neighbourhood, but we're not comfortable with this many
grow-ops going on around us. Drugs are dangerous, and dangerous for a
neighbourhood," Corbet said.

It's ironic that one of the selling points for him was that Hillcrest homes
have basements, he said.

"We thought it was nice for a rec room or in-laws."

Those basements are the very thing that is drawing criminals to this posh
neighbourhood, said police.

Corbet is frustrated that police are doing their job but the courts are not.

"These people (the growers) have been shut down today and they'll just be
out there operating tomorrow, somewhere else," he said.

"There is no deterrent, the court system is pure rubbish."

The courts have been criticized for being too lenient on people charged with
housing pot operations.

According to information gathered by Gerry Wickstead, a 15-year member of
the Vancouver Police who spent years researching B.C.'s criminal justice
system -- the majority (58 per cent) of people convicted on cultivation
charges receive fines averaging $2,900, which is equivalent to the wholesale
price of one pound of B.C. bud.

Out of 166 individuals charged and processed through the justice system in
the fall of 2000 in Vancouver, 101 were convicted, the rest had their
charges dropped or acquitted. Of those 101 convicted, 32 were sentenced to
custody in jail, with the average jail sentence being around 144 days.

Of the 101 people, four were sentenced to weekend custody, 20 received
conditional sentences for up to 130 days, 59 were fined. The highest fine
issued in Vancouver courts was $10,000, six were given suspended sentences
and 15 were sentenced to pay restitution to B.C. Hydro or the landlord.

While Langley police were not inclined to estimate how many grow-ops are
being housed in the municipality, reports from Surrey indicate there are
between 3,500 and 4,500 indoor pot operations within those city limits. Of
those, 90 per cent are estimated to be operated by Vietnamese organized
crime gangs.

If Langley RCMP's tip line is any indication of the amount of grow-ops in
this town, Langley has a proliferation of budding homes. "We are getting
about a tip a day," said Carr. "In fact, we are overwhelmed by the amount of
calls were getting, which is a good thing." Carr said the community is the
police's eyes and ears and tips do lead to warrants, which lead to arrests.

Police arrested two males and one female in a Thursday morning bust. Later
that day they executed a warrant for another Hillcrest home where one female
was arrested.

Langley-grown bud is heading straight to the States, being traded for
cocaine and cash.

"California has an insatiable appetite for B.C. bud. The pot is used as
currency to buy everything from weapons to ecstasy, it's a big business,"
said a drug section officer in a previous interview.

Anyone with information about a suspected grow operation is asked to call
the Langley RCMP drug tip line at 604-532-3304.