LOCAL HOMES GONE TO POT

Cops Battling Increase Of Marijuana-Growing Operations In Area

At first glance, the home looks like any other in the land of manicured
lawns and two-car garages.

The yard is kept clean, the grass is cut and kids skip past on their way to
the local school.

But take a closer look and something just doesn't seem right. The windows
are blacked out, a strange smell hangs in the air and the quiet, new owner
is rarely home.

And then Ottawa's drug squad arrives. Officers jump out of vehicles, knock
down the front door and run inside with guns drawn. That's how many Ottawa
residents are finding out their next-door neighbour is running a
marijuana-growing operation.

Police say well co-ordinated drug trafficking organizations have moved into
the city at an alarming rate and set up profitable marijuana-growing
operations in suburban Ottawa, in neighbourhoods from Kanata to Orleans.

"We're just banging houses. I've never seen a wave like it in my life,"
says Ottawa Police Staff Sgt. Marc Pinault. "They're everywhere in the city."

So far this year, Ottawa Police have raided more than 35 homes and seized
about $10.5 million worth of high-grade pot. Many more are suspected to be
operating in the city.

"That's a lot of marijuana," says Pinault. "It's organized drug trafficking
and it's definitely organized crime."

The sheer number of the homes involved has allowed police to raid them
back-to-back.

Close To Home

On Oct. 5, police swarmed two Springland Dr. homes and found about 600-800
plants. On Oct. 26, officers executed warrants at addresses on Fallowfield
and Baseline roads in the west end and Park Lane in the south end.

By the time they were done, one woman and three men were in custody and
more than $1 million worth of marijuana was headed for disposal. In early
November, police seized 162 marijuana plants at a Hilliard Ave. home. The
next day they raided a Meadowlands Dr. residence and found a 500-plant
operation.

Many of those arrested are transplanted British Columbians, some with
outstanding charges or previous drug convictions.

Police believe there are enough of the homes still running to keep them
hammering away for months.

It's a new phenomenon for police across the province, from Windsor to the
capital and into Quebec.

Ottawa Police heard rumblings from other forces about the cottage industry
expansion about a year ago as they began popping up in different parts of
the province.

For years, drug squad officers trudged through the forests of Cumberland or
the Green Belt to find marijuana-growing operations. Now, they're finding a
disturbing number have moved indoors.

"They're very sophisticated and very well designed," says Pinault. "The
profit margin is very high."

Ottawa is just the latest stop for these drug dealers who have operations
from coast-to-coast. Most recently, they've been working in the
Windsor-Ottawa corridor.

Officers in York Region, Peel, Niagara, Toronto and Kitchener are finding
dozens of the growing operations where only a handful ran before.

And in almost every case, the situation is the same. The drug dealers show
up in town and buy or rent a home in an upscale area. Using hydroponic
equipment, they convert several rooms in the house into a growing area,
leaving only a room or two for the caretaker to sleep and live in.

Renovation Of Sorts

The house is totally converted: Ventilation pipes are run through closets
and ceilings. Humidity, heat and sunlight are all controlled, providing the
perfect growing condition for the illicit harvest.

They even re-route power around their hydro meter, creating a public safety
hazard that police are growing increasingly worried about.

The organized crime rings that run the operations usually hire a person to
take care of the growing, sending them a set amount of cash each month,
between $2,000-$4,000 to pay rent or take care of the place.

When police arrive, they often find no one home or a single caretaker
running the house. In one case, they found a family of four with two
children running a grow.

Pinault says growers are going inside for several reasons. It's easier to
avoid detection from police planes and pesky hikers and there is
potentially a big return on a small investment. Growers can have a single
operation up and running for about $10,000. That includes hydroponic
equipment, electricity, fans and light timers and the necessary soil,
plants, fertilizers and pesticides.

The OPP's drug squad has also seen a rise in the number of home grows in
areas surrounding Ottawa.

This year, they've raided 25 homes in towns like Kemptville, Winchester and
Palmer Rapids.

The most common types of operations seen throughout the province are two-or
three-stage grows, says OPP Det.-Sgt. Paul Henry.

The growers will have several rooms set up -- one as a nursery, one for
middle-sized plants and another room for the final harvesting stage.

"It only takes 12-15 weeks for a plant to fully mature, under these growing
conditions, so you can have a grow coming up for harvest every month," says
Henry.

$25Gs A Month

On a normal operation, the growers can raise about $25,000 a month, says
Henry. The set-ups are also attractive because of the penalties growers
face if they are caught by police. A home grow operator without a record is
unlikely to face any jail time, says Henry.

The drug houses are also time consuming for police who have to put in
several hours on several shifts to find the homes, get warrants and
complete a raid.

They then have to sort through the house, dismantling the operation and
taking samples of the drugs.

With many more home grows likely operating in Ottawa, police are teaming up
with other forces to figure out who is behind the operations.

"We're very well on our way to finding out who the stars are," says Pinault.

Ottawa Police are also looking at proceeds of crime legislation and trying
to seize homes where the grow operations have sprouted.