HIGH-BROW POT BUST

Drug Police Raid Posh Tuxedo Home

Mounties have busted a million-dollar grow-op in a posh Tuxedo neighbourhood.

Acting on a tip, the RCMP drug unit raided an upscale home at 46 Park Pl.
E. yesterday and uncovered a lucrative hydroponic grow operation in the
basement. About 1,000 marijuana plants and three ounces of dry bud with a
combined street value of $1 million was seized in the raid, RCMP Sgt. Steve
Saunders said last night.

An illegal electrical hookup appears to have been used to power the
grow-op, he said.

No charges have been laid, but a man and a woman living at the home have
been taken into custody. Their names have not been released.

Neighbours in the quiet neighbourhood said two couples believed to be in
their mid-20s had recently moved into the home, which is rented out by
owners Ollie and Sofia Suvajac.

"They came in October or November," said next-door neighbour Marsha
McKenzie. "The guys had come first and they had told Ollie their wives were
coming later. They told him they were coming from Alberta but were
originally from Morden."

The two-storey, 2,500 square-foot home was built in 1985 and has an
assessed value of nearly $212,000, according to city records.

"It's a very nice home," said McKenzie of the nine-room home. "It's very
beautifully done, with a fireplace, marble floors and lovely oak finishing."

At least 30 Mounties from four different departments were on the scene at
the time of the raid, alarming many residents in the posh neighbourhood.

'SCARED AND FRIGHTENED'

"I'm scared and frightened. I want to sell this place. This is supposed to
be a nice neighbourhood. Stuff like this is supposed to happen in skid row,
not here," said Anne Lindgren, who watched the police raid from her front
window.

"This is the quietest street in the world," said McKenzie. "We used to joke
that people in this neighbourhood could be criminals and we'd never know."

Last month, city cops warned Winnipeggers to be on the lookout for similar
grow-ops in their neighbourhood. Grow-ops, as well as clandestine drug
labs, have been turning up with some regularity in middle and
upper-middle-class neighbourhoods, Const. Bob Johnson said last month.