LIVIN' IN GRASS HOUSES

Drug Homes Taking Over Neighbourhoods

OAKVILLE -- It's always difficult to fight wars on two lines. In this case,
we seem to be losing at least one -- on the homefront.

As Canadians put resources into the terrorism battle, local police forces
are now overwhelmed with the number of homegrown drug operations springing up.

While the two campaigns may seem a world apart -- perhaps they aren't so
far removed from one another.

Because, if you thought the street you live on is relatively free of
organized crime -- as it likely is with terrorist threats -- you may want
to think again.

"He was a nice man, who said they were moving from Vancouver -- his licence
and job checked out. I wouldn't have guessed what would happen," said the
56-year-old landlord, of the man who, a year ago, rented an Oakville home
from him. The landlord was stunned last month when Halton Police told him
the man was running a pot farm inside the home.

That homegrown marijuana bust didn't produce any arrests -- the family,
including at least two young children, had hurriedly packed up and left
before drug officers smashed in the doors -- but it did net almost 500
plants worth an estimated $467,000.

And it's left the unsuspecting landlord with about $50,000 in property
damage and a $14,682 bill, to cover power his tenants stole from the system.

The house is built steps from a church. In fact, there were few hints the
clan inside had transformed the brick manor into a drug farm.

Mattresses were kept on the first floor for sleeping while the basement and
once beautiful upstairs were used to grow weed. Even the main bathroom was
transformed into a chemical lab.

Police estimate there are now 10,000 pot farms, like that one, working
around the clock in the GTA -- most operating next door to law-abiding
residents.

Dramatic, door-crashing busts of the clandestine farms is now so
commonplace -- last week, dogged York Regional Police brought down their
100th grow-house this year -- they're often buried in the newspaper,
ignored on television newscasts, and rarely even noticed by a public that's
grown used to such images.

But officials are becoming increasingly alarmed at the staggering numbers
they are facing and unable to keep up.

"We're not winning the war -- not at all," said York Regional Det. Sgt.
Gary Miner, an expert on the farms.

"We talk about cutting the grass every day, but we just don't have the
manpower."

At the start of the year, his force had a list of 168 grow-houses to
execute warrants on. They've gone into 102, and their tip list is now at 325.

Consider the numbers when considering who's winning. Each operation
contains a usual minimum of 400 plants -- translating into a possible
street-profit of $1.6-million from each house, every year.

LIGHT SENTENCES

Many of those caught -- entering a court system drowning in such cases --
are walking away with less than a year. Some receive conditional sentences
of house arrest -- which seems slightly ironic.

Especially since 95% of those bandits stole residential hydro to keep their
lamps burning -- each draining $18,000 to $20,000 from the hydro system a year.

In Markham alone, an estimated 300 homes are stealing juice to power up
their grow lights.

It's why hydro firms are now fighting back -- even passing on the bills to
innocent landlords.

Oakville Hydro CEO, Alex Bystrin, estimates his utility company is losing
$1 million each year to illegal pot operations. So they're standing
unusually tough on landlords, who Bystrin argues should be more vigilant.

If landlords are businessmen, they should be prepared to deal with losses,
the CEO said.

"It's their property," he explained, adding it's unfair to have the rest of
the community shoulder the theft. "It's criminalization of the community
... we're trying to deal with it," Bystrin added.

As well as the theft of power, officials are seeing a rise in violence at
the homes -- including booby traps.

Local fire officials estimate one in eight catch fire.

Then there are the neighbours who ignore suspicions.

While, for them, it may not seem as urgent as the war getting the
front-page treatment, in this campaign, officials know where the bad guys
live and work.