POLICE RAID FOUR POT-GROWING OPERATIONS

Two children have been taken into care and five adults are in custody
following the most recent police raids of illegal marijuana-growing
operations in four homes across Waterloo Region. The raids, by members of
the Waterloo regional police drug unit, netted more than 1,800 marijuana
plants in two days, said unit head Staff Sgt. Ray Massicotte.

As many as 1,100 plants were seized at one house, "the largest number of
plants we have found in one residence to date," Massicotte said.

The home-grow operations were raided yesterday at two Cambridge addresses,
one in Kitchener -- where the two children, aged six and seven, were found
and placed in the care of Family and Children's Services of Waterloo
Region. The fourth home-grow was discovered in Elmira on Thursday.

In Cambridge, in the area Staff Sgt. Doug Ghent called "The Clemens Mills
Horticultural Society," police found the biggest haul, 1,100 plants at 79
Hilborn Ave., and arrested a man and a woman.

At 397 Saginaw Parkway, 143 plants were found, but no arrests were made
since nobody was home.

At 128 Carlyle Drive in Kitchener, 368 plants were found, a man and woman
were taken into custody, and the children put in care.

The suspects in yesterday's raids will remain in custody until they are
charged, Massicotte said.

On Thursday, at 29 Falcon Drive, Elmira, police uncovered 262 plants and
arrested a 42-year-old man. Son Pham is charged with production of a
controlled substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking and theft
of hydro-electricity.

So far this year, police have raided 14 homes for illegal pot-growing --
and one common thread is the sophistication of the operations and the fact
they are happening in all kinds of neighbourhoods, Massicotte said. "In
Waterloo Region, anyone would find a home-grow within five minutes' walk of
where they live. The thing is to find them and prove it in a court of law,"
he said.

"So we know they are out there, but we know absolutely that we haven't got
them all."

Police get tips from neighbours noticing covered-up windows or heavy
condensation. Or they hear from hydro companies noticing the amount of
electricity used is far in excess of what is paid for. It's estimated that
the stolen hydro costs local utility companies about $2 million a year.

Apart from the illegality, police are worried about the danger.

"Home-grow operations are a significant danger to the public. We've had
near tragedies -- two electrical house fires since June 2000, when we
(discovered) the first sophisticated home-grow," Massicotte said.