ASIAN GANGS MOVING IN?

Police concerned over big rise in sophisticated grow operations

A dramatic rise in the number of sophisticated hydroponic grow
operations found in Winnipeg in the last few months is raising
concerns among police that an Asian-based criminal group has gained a
foothold in the city.

It's a beachhead that may have been established with the grudging
acceptance of the Hells Angels.

Police in Manitoba wouldn't comment at length on the new crime trend,
but intelligence reports from both sides of the border indicate that
an Asian crime group in British Columbia is operating in Winnipeg and
involved in the mass production and export of highly potent marijuana
to other parts of Canada and into the United States.

The crime ring, believed to be connected to a Vietnamese organized
crime group, is suspected of being behind at least six hydroponic
marijuana grow operations -- three raided Jan. 31 -- uncovered by
chance by Winnipeg police since November.

Police have seized more than $3 million worth of pot from these large
grow operations, about a quarter of the total amount seized in 2002,
according to internal police statistics.

(Police seized 6,999 plants, worth $11,641,254 last year.) The grow
operations were all found in residential homes in quiet
neighbourhoods. Some of the houses had been purchased and some were
rented. All were similar in setup; the hydro meter had been
circumvented to avoid detection as the house used an inordinate amount
of heat and light in the grow operation.

"They're set up the same way," said Sgt. Rick Guyader of the Winnipeg
Police Service's drug unit. "It's like a signature, like a
fingerprint."

Police only discovered the grow operations due to tips from suspicious
neighbours or because of a fire -- one in north West Kildonan ignited
because of the haphazard way in which the operation was set up.

Police believe the houses also had something else in common -- they
were each inhabited by people hired by the crime group to watch over
the marijuana crop. For the most part, the homes had little furniture.
The people, or "house-sitters," also had no criminal records and good
credit ratings, meaning they had no obvious connection to organized
crime.

Police sources and interviews with neighbours also indicate the
residents kept to themselves, preferring not to let anyone into the
home or interact with the community.

What's puzzling is that the crime group -- it does not have a known
name -- is operating under the nose of the Manitoba chapter of the
Hells Angels, who are also believed to be involved in the production
and distribution of hydroponic marijuana throughout the province and
northwestern Ontario. Police intelligence reports suggest that the
Hells Angels in B.C. -- supposedly some of the richest outlaw bikers
in the world -- have made peace with Asian criminals to do business
without interruption. That means no drive-by shootings or murders.

Manitoba's Hells Angels fall under the wing of the B.C. Hells
Angels.

"There's just too much money to be made," a city police source said.
"Are they competing? Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't.

"Right now they're operating independently of each other, but there
may be a time they come into conflict with one another."

Such is the case in Calgary, where police are investigating a number
of drive-by shootings and murders that appear to be connected to a
turf war over that city's drug trade.

Police say they are keeping a watch over the situation as best they
can, but admit they have no idea how many marijuana grow operations
have been set up in the city or rural Manitoba. Winnipeg police
recently added a new segment to its Web site
(http://www.city.winnipeg.mb.ca/police/)
explaining how to recognize indoor marijuana grow operations and
clandestine labs, where methamphetamines, ecstasy, GHB, and other
chemically derived drugs are made.

"There's a good number of them out there and there's a good number out
there we haven't been able to find," Cpl. Bob Ross of the RCMP's drug
section said.

What police also don't know is whether the Vietnamese crime ring is
working in tandem with the Hells Angels. Some reports suggest the two
are working together for purely business reasons. Vietnamese gangs are
adept at growing dope and the bikers have a strong, almost
impenetrable distribution network across Canada and into the United
States. Police sources also say the bikers can easily enforce the
street trade in narcotics -- crack cocaine is the No. 1 drug in
Winnipeg -- but have little control over who's growing marijuana.

Thrown into the mix is the fact a number of independent growers are
involved in the trade, many of whom are only supplementing their
incomes by peddling a small amount of pot.

"Through the use of marijuana brokers, the Hells Angels and
Vietnamese-based crime groups control approximately 85 per cent of the
marijuana production and distribution in B.C.," according to the 2002
Criminal Intelligence Service Canada annual report.

"The movement eastward from B.C. of individuals associated (with)
Vietnamese-based organized crime groups and involved in
marijuana-growing operations will continue, as will the more recent
trend of like individuals moving back to B.C. after being charged in
Ontario," the report says.

"B.C. Hells Angels have had an historical association with traditional
(Italian-based) organized-crime families in Eastern Canada and have
developed significant criminal alliances. There are also indications
of increased collaboration between some Hells Angels and members of
Asian-based organized crime groups."