SHOT FIRED IN POLICE RAIDS

Machine gun-toting police burst into a Black Mountain home Tuesday,
firing when a suspect pointed an imitation handgun at them.

A bullet from the nine-millimetre semi-automatic machine gun lodged in
the wall and the unharmed suspect was arrested by the Emergency
Response Team member.

The confrontation occurred Tuesday during a series of early morning
raids which netted six suspects, more than 2,000 marijuana plants and
$20,000 in cash.

"The (allegations) paint a picture showing the darker underbelly of
the drug scene," said RCMP spokesman Const. Garth Letcher.

"It's not unlike what we see on the front pages of the Vancouver Sun
and Province."

With military precision, two dozen heavily armed police swooped down
on houses in Okanagan Mission, Black Mountain, Westbank and Peachland.

The police objective was the quick arrest of suspects involved in the
vicious beating of a 24-year-old man three weeks ago.

The unidentified man, admitted to Kelowna General Hospital in serious
condition with multiple injuries, told police he was forcibly confined
in a Glenmore home and beaten repeatedly for two days on Dec. 19 and
20.

Those responsible set him free in a rural area of Chute Lake Road and
he was admitted to the emergency department the next day.

"We've heard rumours, reports of similar incidents, but the victims
have been reluctant, or they find it impossible to come forward, so
the incidents have gone unreported," said Letcher.

Senior RCMP officials, concerned for the safety of their members and
the possibility suspects could have weapons, formed a large arrest
team: eight ERT members, 10 plain clothes investigators, four
uniformed members and two police dog teams.

The raids began at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday when a 28-year-old man and
22-year-old woman were arrested in a vehicle as they left a Sarsons
Road residence.

Police seized $20,000 in cash found inside the vehicle, then fanned
out across the Central Okanagan.

Shortly before 3 a.m., a 31-year-old man and 37-year-old woman were
arrested at a residence in the 2400 block of Boucherie Road. Police
confiscated more than 100 mature marijuana plants and in excess of
1,500 clones.

At 3:05 a.m., two men, 23 and 27, were arrested on Verde Vista Road in
Black Mountain. After the confrontation involving the single shot,
police discovered another 300 marijuana plants.

At 3:15 p.m., police seized more than 300 marijuana plants at a Mack
Road residence in Peachland.

"Our considerable planning paid off," said Letcher. "We were able to
do it in stages. Once one residence was secured, one leg was
completed, we were able to move on to the next."

It was one of the largest arrest teams in recent memory and even
though busting grow operations wasn't the intent, it was one of the
largest seizures in some time.

Police hope it will have an impact on the local drug
trade.

Three of those arrested were subsequently released.

On Tuesday afternoon, Jonas Duncan, 28, Shawn Sandberg, 31, and Peter
Novel, 27, appeared in Kelowna provincial court on charges of forcible
confinement and aggravated assault. Duncan and Sandberg were also
charged with uttering threats.

Police issued a warrant and are still looking for Martin Lepiere, also
of Kelowna, who has been charged with unlawful confinement and
aggravated assault.

Charges under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act are pending. The
$20,000 cash is the subject of a proceeds-of-crime
investigation.

In provincial court, Crown counsel David Ruse requested and got a
three-day remand for Duncan, Sandberg and Novel until 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

Afterward, defence lawyer Victor Janicki indicated he will seek a bail
hearing for Novel, his client, at that time.

Duncan and Sandberg were represented by duty counsel Wayne Jennings.