ALLEGED DRUG HOUSE PROMPTS NEIGHBOURS INTO ACTION

Frustration over an alleged drug house in Maple Ridge has driven one
woman to clip yellow and orange warning signs to the front of the
property identifying the residence as a crack house.

One sign read: "Crack house, we sell crack, heroin and [ecstasy].
Please report any and all activity to local police. We ruin lifes (sic)."

On Wednesday morning people slowed their cars to read the signs, which
remained up for at least an hour.

The house is partially surrounded by hedges, and there appears to be a
security camera at the front door.

Neighbours around the home on 117 Avenue near Ridge Meadows Hospital
are concerned about recent activity, which they interpret as drug dealing.

"Move 'em out. I'll have a barbecue for anyone who can get them out of
here," said Connie Christensen, who lives close to the house in
question. Christensen said she's happy about the signs.

"I think it's great. I like it when people start standing up for
themselves," she said. Christensen said she sees people openly dealing
drugs in the streets by her home.

"They're not shy about it," she said.

Christensen also said there has been an influx in drug paraphernalia
in the neighbourhood. When she walks around with her daughter, she
sees discarded syringes and flaps - folded pieces of paper often used
to package heroin, cocaine and crystal meth. She doesn't let her
five-year-old daughter play in front of the house unsupervised anymore.

Christensen said she wasn't worried the signs may be
defamatory.

"If they are innocent they can come out and defend themselves," she
said.

Tracy O'Brien lives around the corner from the house and is new to the
neighbourhood. She wasn't aware of anything unusual at the house, but
stopped to read the signs.

"If it is indeed a crack house, I think (the signs are) great because
they bring a lot of bad things to neighbourhoods," she said. But the
people in the house could be innocent, she added.

"Just because someone put up a sign doesn't mean they should be proven
guilty," she said.

And, indeed, one of the residents answering the phone at the house
denied all allegations of drug dealing and, before hanging up, called
the signs a form of harassment. The house is rented out but has two
listed property owners. One is on Tamarack Lane, but that house is
empty.

Ridge-Meadows RCMP spokesman Cpl. Ryan Schlecker said the house is
known to police but there haven't been any calls there recently. There
was, however, a search warrant executed at that address last year.
Police went in and searched the place, and as a result Travis Annett
was charged with five counts of possession for the purpose of
trafficking, and two counts for illegal storage of firearms.

Schlecker said it's OK for neighbours to look out for each other but
he doesn't condone anyone trying to confront crime directly.

"Neighbours have got to be vigilant," he said adding people should
contact police when they see something suspicious.

"We don't promote vigilantism because it involves a high area of risk
and people can get hurt," he said.