POT HOUSE FOUND ON HILBORN AVE.

Hilborn Avenue, home to $300,000 homes and manicured yards, has been busted
again.

The ritzy street south of Saginaw Parkway was the focus of its third pot
bust in nine months on Wednesday.

This time, however, police were a mite late in cleaning out a pot grow
operation.

Police, acting on a tip from Cambridge and North Dumfries Hydro Inc., found
vestiges of a homegrow operation at 8 Hilborn Ave., seizing about $2,000 in
growing equipment and a small amount of marijuana.

Most of the operation had been dismantled, although there were wires and
other evidence of an illegal hydro hook-up, said drug squad leader Staff
Sergeant Ray Massicotte.

"We believe they (the residents of the house) observed the hydro people
inspecting the property and started to clear out (evidence)," he said.

One female, Lien Trung Vong, 33, was arrested at the residence and charged
with theft of electricity and possession of a controlled substance.

Regional police made one of their biggest busts in the battle against
homegrows in February, just up the road at 79 Hilborn. About 1,100 plants,
with a street value of close to $1 million, were seized.

Another raid executed last July busted a big homegrow at 136 Hilborn.

Police and local firefighters say they are alarmed at the proliferation of
homegrows as the houses represent a fire hazard to the community.

There have been nearly 90 homegrow busts in the region in the two years.

Residents can help police eliminate these operations by calling 653-7700.
Evidence submitted need not be conclusive, Massicotte said. Often an
accumulation of tips is needed to obtain the search warrant needed to bust
these operations, he said.