LANDLORD REVEALS KEY TO POT BUST

Steps Up Unit Inspections After Giant Haul

A Hamilton landlord is doing unit-by-unit checks to ensure there are
no more massive marijuana grow operations in any of his rental properties.

Anthony Di Cenzo, vice-president of Di Cenzo Management Inc., said
the company got a wake-up call after police discovered almost 12,000
marijuana plants worth about $12 million in highrise apartment
buildings at 11 Grandville Ave., 77 Delawana Dr. and 50 Violet Dr.

Di Cenzo also revealed for the first time how police -- with the help
of the landlord -- were able to establish a connection among grow
operations in 50 different units that had been rented to 50 different
people.

Di Cenzo said the "commonality" among the grow units was that the
growers had replaced the original locks with three deadbolts on each
unit.

"A visual inspection of the doors in the three buildings was
undertaken by the police and landlord representative, and where
similar locking mechanisms were discovered and the sound of
ventilators could be heard through the doors, the units were further
investigated," he wrote in an e-mail.

In some cases, he added, there were coverings on the outside windows
that suggested the unit was being used as a marijuana grow operation.

Last week, the landlord and Hamilton police checked another area
highrise at 40 Grandville Ave. for possible grow operations. The
building had been associated in the past with the Original Blood
Brothers (OBB) street gang, whose members have a history of violence
and drug dealing.

They didn't find any marijuana laboratories in the building. But Di
Cenzo said the company will continue inspecting the remainder of its
rental units on its own.

He added the discovery of the marijuana labs in highrise apartments
should also send a "loud and clear message" for all landlords to do
regular inspections in their rental properties. In the past, grow
operations were usually found in single-family homes, large
enclosures or outdoors. The east-end bust represented the biggest
seizure of home-grown marijuana in Hamilton history and the first
time local police had found a marijuana operation spread over three
buildings and dozens of units.

Inspector Rick Wills, of Hamilton police investigative services, has
said police believe local people are behind the operation and the
investigation will be long and complex. There have been no arrests so
far.

The case came to light last month when police received a tip that
marijuana was being cultivated in one of the apartment buildings.
After the initial discovery, they quickly moved to two nearby
buildings where they discovered about three dozen more units with
potted marijuana plants. About a week later, the superintendent in a
Di Cenzo building discovered another unit with marijuana plants after
noticing it had the same locks as the 49 other apartments.

Di Cenzo said the company hired an environmental consultant who
checked the units for mould and other contaminants that could affect
air quality. He expects to have the consultant's final report this
week but the preliminary inspection indicated there wasn't any mould.