LANDLORD SEES HIMSELF AS THE VICTIM

Says He's The Unwitting Dupe Of A Criminal Grow Operation In His Buildings

A Hamilton landlord has portrayed himself as the unwitting dupe of a
sophisticated criminal operation after a massive marijuana grow
operation was discovered in his east end apartments.

On Wednesday, Hamilton police found 11,000 plants worth about $11
million in 48 units in three high-rise apartment buildings owned by
Di Cenzo Management Inc., one of the Steel City's biggest
residential landlords.

It was the biggest marijuana grow operation in Hamilton history and
drew attention to previous criminal activity in and around the
complex, which involved at least one stabbing and a shooting.

Councillor Chad Collins said the buildings have been problem spots
for years and suggested the landlord should be more vigilant in
screening tenants.

Di Cenzo vice-president Anthony Di Cenzo took issue with Collins'
remarks, suggesting he was pandering to the media.

"'Di Cenzo management, by choice, started extensive repair and
restoration of those buildings over the course of 2005/2006. Not at
Councillor Collins' suggestion, who was expressing no concerns of
which I'm aware of, during this period," he stated in an e-mail to
The Spectator yesterday.

He suggested he's been unfairly slammed when he is, in fact, the
victim of a criminal enterprise.

"If there's a witchhunt, it shouldn't be a witchhunt of the
landlord," he said in a telephone interview.

"In terms of victims, if there is a victim, it's the landlord."

He said he has fully co-operated with the police investigation and
will do regular checks of the apartment units in the future to make
sure it doesn't happen again.

"I believe this was a sophisticated criminal operation. Whether it's
some type of organized crime, I don't know. I know a lot of thought
went into it."

He added the growers had done little to attract attention to
themselves while growing their crops. They vented the fumes outside
the building and a drug sniffing dog wasn't able to pick up the
scent from the hallways.

"I have personally interviewed the building superintendent, as well
as some of the neighbours of the affected units," he wrote in the
e-mail. "None had any hint of the possibility of a grow-op. If these
types of operations are to be prevented, management and police can
only do so much. Tenants need to be proactive in complaining about
suspicious activities."

Di Cenzo said the units where the plants were found had been rented
to 48 different people. He described them as "real people" who had
been individually vetted by the building management and who had
undergone credit checks by a firm called Trans Union of Canada.

Di Cenzo suggested there was no "commonality" in the 48 leases to
suggest that these people were involved in a joint criminal
enterprise. "There was nothing that raised a red flag," he said.

He added police may have found something in the apartments
themselves that led them from building to building and unit to unit.

Sandy Shaw, senior planner for the social and research council of
Hamilton, said a large number of residents in these apartments are
new Canadians, many from South East Asian.

She suggested they might be slow to complain about the conditions of
the apartments, which are relatively affordable, or of any
suspicious activities.

"There's this sense that new Canadians are not entirely sure of
their rights as tenants and they're not really certain what the
obligation of the landlord is." She said the buildings had generated
complaints in the past about mice, pigeons and heat and water problems.

"It shouldn't take a massive drug bust for the neighbourhood to have
the kind of attention that's been long overdue," Shaw said.

In his e-mail, Di Cenzo said he had taken steps to address tenant
concerns in the past, including employing security guards who patrol
the buildings with drug sniffing dogs. He will also have to go
through a formal eviction process for each tenant who rented the
marijuana units before he can lease them again.