INSPECTION TEAM SNIFFS OUT GROW-OPS

A new team will be active within Langley Township within a month,
their job to detect and clamp down on marijuana grow operations.

Within the month, Langley crime- and firefighters will have a bigger
arsenal in their battle to rid this town of marijuana grow operations.

Grow-ops are prolific throughout B.C., and Langley is no exception,
said Supt. Janice Armstrong, commanding officer of the Langley RCMP.

Following the example of neighbouring law enforcement in Surrey and
Abbotsford, Langley police, fire and bylaw officers have rallied
together to create the Public Safety Inspection Team.

This group can access B.C. Hydro records and use that data to hone in
on those with notable or excessive power consumption levels, Armstrong
explained.

From last year's hydro records alone, this team has already
identified 760 addresses in Langley that fit this criteria.

While Armstrong knows not every one of them will be a grow-op, if even
half of them are, she said this gives the team an invaluable tool to
search for and shut down the illegal operations.

Township fire chief Doug Wade said grow-ops present many obvious and
more hidden dangers to the community including a 24-times greater
chance of house fires due to illegal and faulty rewiring of
electricity.

For this reason, electrical safety inspectors are also expected to be
part of the new team.

Even though there's not enough time available for this local team to
visit all 760 identified Township addresses, Armstrong said those
earmarked residences with unusually high power consumption can and
should expect a personal visit in the weeks to come.

This team will be making random checks and have the authority to cut
power to the residence if the occupant does not permit them to search,
she explained.

The first step will be a drive-by check, she said. That's followed by
door knocking and advising the tenants they'll be coming back in 24
hours for an inspection. When the team returns, if the occupants are
not there or refuse the team access, then hydro will be stopped and
not restarted until an inspection is complete.

If a grow-op is found, then in addition to charges, the property owner
must go through a rigorous list of upgrades to bring the place up to
safety standards, Armstrong said.

Wade noted that no search warrant is required and that the team will
be entering the properties under authority from the Township's
controlled substance property bylaw, the fire services act and
community act, as well as provincial safety standards
legislation.

"It's an expensive process. It's a team dedicated to doing this," Wade
said. But he's confident it will pay dividends and that the Township
will be able to recoup much of its costs because property owners will
be charged for the inspections if any evidence of a grow-op is discovered.

Last year, a 10-member RCMP drug team armed with search warrants
raided 57 homes that were being used to grow pot - 10 of those were
within City limits, while the other 47 were within Township
boundaries. That resulted in the seizure of 28,000 pot plants, and 20
people were charged with cultivation and other drug-related charges.

Armstrong's excitement about the new tool to fight drug cultivation
was apparent when she talked about it at the Township council meeting
Monday night, and again at the Business Improvement Area meeting in
Aldergrove last Tuesday.

In addition to the new detection team being set up in the Township,
Armstrong said, there are other initiatives, some for which she can't
yet divulge, also aimed at curtailing grow-ops in Langley.

One she can talk about is a provincial advisory committee suggesting
regulating the sale of hydroponic equipment.

The committee hopes to recommend legislation to restrict sale of
ballasts, lamps, and timers to licensed retailers, Armstrong said. As
well, anyone buying such equipment will have to have a valid
electrical permit, requiring inspection upon installation.

"If I'm a legal person doing that, no problem," Armstrong said,
questioning why many people would need to buy a 1,000-watt light bulb.

She pointed to statistics showing that hydroponic shops have jumped 50
per cent in B.C. in the past few years, compared to neighbouring
Alberta and Washington State.

"That tells me that the marijuana trade is alive and well in B.C.,"
Armstrong said.

The new team has already met twice since last fall.

"It shouldn't make it difficult at all for the legitimate users,"
Armstrong said. "It's a disruption tactic, not making it easy for
marijuana grow operations that are basically infesting our community."

Briefly....

Marijuana Grow-ops 2004 to 2007 (up to April 18) Files opened: 2004:
178 2005: 187 2006: 150 2007 (to date): 60

Grows taken down 2004: 26 in Township 5 in City 2005: 25 in Township 5
in City 2006: 47 in Township 10 in City 2007 (to date): 17 in Township
2 in City

Charges in grow-ops 2004: 15 2005: 12 2006: 20 2007 (to date):
12

Total plants seized 2004: 19,170 2005: 23,784 2006: 28,041 2007 (to
date): 7,050

Municipal billing for dismantling and cleanup 2006: Township - $55,600
City - $3,509 2007 (to date): Township - $25,999 City - $3,441