NEIGHBOURHOOD POT LABS BUSTED

Police Raid Three North Oakville Houses

Halton Regional Police seized $1.5 million in hydroponically-grown
marijuana in three raids in north Oakville houses, Thursday morning.

Detective Larry Burns, head of Halton's Drug and Morality Unit, said inside
the houses were large-scale growing operations with the capability of
producing millions of dollars worth of illegal drugs.

"We've seen a real increase in them," said Detective Burns, who explained
that Halton police have shut down seven such grow operations since the
summer. "We're doing them as quickly as we can possibly do them."

Detective Burns made his comments outside 1385 Mayors Manor where officers
found one suspect residing when they arrived there around 8 a.m. Operations
on Postmaster Drive and Greenridge Circle were likewise closed down and a
second person arrested.

The three houses are within close proximity of each other. Mayors Manor and
Postmaser Drive are west of Third Line and south of Upper Middle Road,
while Greenridge Crescent is east of Third Line and south of Upper Middle Road.

Once inside the houses, officers clad in protective hazardous materials
suits and wearing breathing filters dismantled the complex and expensive
(about $10,000 each) assortment of equipment. Bales of the 300 to 500
marijuana plants found in each house were loaded into a cube van along with
huge light bulbs, fans and other electrical devices.

According to Sgt. Val Hay, the suits were worn to protect officers from
whatever chemicals were used in the production of the plants, which were
very close to maturity.

Detective Burns - who said that the operations were uncovered thanks to
"community involvement" - said that each operation was about three to four
months old, or about as long as the growth cycle for a crop of marijuana.
Each stash was worth at least half a million dollars, he added.

Sgt. Hay said the plants will be destroyed, while the equipment will be
saved and catalogued for court.

According to Bob Myers, Director of Oakville Hydro Energy Services, the
electrical meters of all three homes had been bypassed. Hydro crews were on
hand to ensure that the homes were safe. Myers said Oakville Hydro is also
interested in recovering the revenue lost during the period of the
electricity theft.

"This house (on Mayors Manor) was using the equivalent of what this whole
block uses," he added.

Myers said the bypasses, which had been done "live," involved tunneling and
other illegal procedures he declined to divulge.

"It's very sophisticated, but what they're doing is not very safe," said
Myers, who explained that Hydro staff are being trained to be aware of the
telltale signs of misuse.

Jury-rigged wiring is only one of the headaches facing landlords, however,
once the police have cleared out these operations. Because of the
electrical and ventilation requirements of these sites, Detective Burns
said extensive damage is often wreaked on the interior.

In the Mayors Manor property, for example, holes had been drilled up
through the structure from the basement where the plants lived. There were
even holes in the foundation, said Detective Burns.

Such grow operations mark an expanding industry that is intruding into
local neighbourhoods in houses that are often rented. According to police,
about half of these grow sites are run by renters, half by owners.

Residents are asked to be aware of "abnormal behaviour," said Detective
Burns, such as houses whose residents only sporadically attend, appear
vacant most of the time and are allowed to become unkempt.

Detective Burns said he also supports the need for joint intelligence
gathering with the Greater Toronto Area in an effort to stamp out these
grow operations.

"These investigations are very time-consuming," he said.

Halton Regional Police have shut down seven such operations across Halton
since August, with an estimated $3.5 million worth of marijuana seized.
Detective Burns said these cases have yet to go to court.

In connection with the arrests made on Thursday, Tuyen Quang Nguyen, 45, of
Mayors Manor, and Thinh Huu Le, 32, of no fixed address, have been charged
with producing a controlled substance, possession for the purpose of
trafficking and theft of electricity. Le is also facing a charged called
"occupant injuring building."

Both were scheduled to appear in Milton Court this morning.