POT GROWERS DUCKING DETECTION IN BOONIES, DRUG PROSECUTOR SAYS

WATERLOO REGION -- Operators of large-scale, indoor marijuana grow houses
are moving to smaller communities outside of Waterloo Region to avoid
detection by police, a local drug prosecutor said.

"They seem to be migrating to smaller communities like Stratford," said
David Rowcliffe, who is prosecuting many of the more than 100 local grow
cases as they make their way through the court system.

He said the diligence of local police in nabbing the growers has forced
many of them to "change their methods, and now they are getting more clever
in selecting their locations."

The diligence of federal Crown attorneys in prosecuting the cases has
resulted in criminals learning about the police techniques that led to
their arrest, said Staff Sgt. Ray Massicotte, who heads the drug branch of
Waterloo regional police.

"They've become educated criminals,'' said Massicotte. ''They've learned
through their mistakes," and now it is harder to detect them.

"It has also driven a lot of them underground."

This illegal activity first surfaced in the region in June 2000, and since
then police have raided more than 100 suburban homes that were turned into
indoor pot gardens. They have confiscated an average of $1 million worth of
marijuana a month. From January to October 2002, police seized 13,392
plants worth $11 million on the street.

At times, it seemed police were raiding a house every week.

But now the raids are less frequent because the culprits are changing their
ways to avoid detection, Massicotte said.

"They have not gone away. We have to remain vigilant," the officer said.

"It is not about the commodity. It is not about marijuana. It is about a
product that fuels the coffers of organized crime," Massicotte said.

"This is the fuel that runs organized crime because it gives them big
money" to purchase harder drugs like cocaine, ecstasy and heroin, he said.

Initially, a lot of growers, mainly people of Vietnamese descent and
first-time offenders, pleaded guilty and often received conditional
sentences that could be served in their homes.

But that has gradually changed and more of them are going to jail,
Rowcliffe said.

"There is a recognition among the court and local judiciary that this is a
big problem, and it is a growing problem and deterrence has to play a key
role," the drug prosecutor said.

Part of this change is the result of federal prosecutors, like himself, who
presented evidence to judges showing how the operations pose fire risks to
neighbours and endanger the safety of workers who dismantle the hydro
bypasses used to steal the large amounts of electricity needed to nourish
the crops, he said.

Taxpayers are paying for the stolen electricity in their own hydro bills
and are also footing the cost of investigations and prosecutions, and the
costs involved when children are taken into agency care after a raid, he said.

The latest victims are the insurance companies which foot the cost of
repairing homes used to grow pot, Rowcliffe said. The high levels of
humidity lead to mould and mildew in the walls, which could pose a health
hazard for people with respiratory problems.