INDOOR POT FARMS SPREADING

Halton Police discovered $1.5 million worth of marijuana plants in three
Oakville homes this week. It adds to the number of big pot-growing
operations police are finding in Halton's upscale residential
neighbourhoods. In October, police discovered five such operations in
Burlington, Milton and Halton Hills, and through the year, have made 12
such raids.

It means this undesirable, expanding industry is intruding into
unsuspecting local neighbourhoods and because of the criminal element,
possibly posing a danger to residents.

Police have asked the public to be alert and aware of houses that appear
vacant most of the time and where the residents only sporadically attend.
The houses used as a cover for the multimillion dollar pot growing
operations become unkempt.

On Thursday, Oakville neighbours wondering about such a house on Mayors
Manor got their answers when Halton police drug officers crashed inside to
bust a marijuana growing operation worth about $500,000.

"There were police at every door -- one hand on each door and the other on
their gun -- yelling 'Police! -- Open up. We are coming in,' " said one
neighbour who asked not to be identified.

She said the officers used a ram to bash the door and hustled inside. Soon
they escorted one man out of the house in handcuffs.

"The guy in the house looked a little lost, like he'd just got out of bed,"
one man said. "He was still wearing his bedroom slippers."

Officers raided three $250,000 to $300,000 homes simultaneously in the same
neighbourhood around the Third Line and Upper Middle Road at 8 a.m.

The three marijuana growing operations, in homes on Mayors Manor,
Postmaster Drive and Greenridge Circle, each yielded about $500,000 worth
of marijuana for a total of $1.5 million.

Police also seized thousands of dollars worth of hydroponic growing
equipment, massive 1,000 watt lamps and ventilation equipment.

Halton police have charged a 45-year-old Oakville man found in the Mayors
Manor house and a 32-year-old man of no fixed address at another one of the
homes with production of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled
substance for the purpose of trafficking and theft of electricity.

The 32-year-old is also charged with injury to a building.

Two of the homes were rented. One was occupied by the owner.

Detective Larry Burns, head of the Halton Police drug and morality unit,
said police have busted 12 other houses just like the one on Mayors Manor
so far this year.

"We had none last year of this magnitude, now we've had 12. That is a
significant increase."

Burns said the pot growers seem to like the big, two-storey homes found in
upscale neighbourhoods because of the room inside.

The Mayors Manor operation was discovered with the help of "community
involvement," he said.

Burns said the indoor marijuana farms Halton police have seen so far appear
to be controlled by individuals trying to make a quick buck. "There's a lot
of money in it because these things go 12 months a year, 24 hours a day."

Burns said there was one man living in the house. Neighbours had been told
when the house sold in August to expect a couple, two grandparents and one
or two kids.

Bob Meyers, director of Oakville Hydro, said his crews were at the three
houses to take care of the services which had been tampered with. "They
bypass the meter and tie in ahead of it so the use doesn't show.

"This house is using alone what the whole block would require," he said,
adding the average grow operation uses 10 times as much power as a normal home.

"We are interested in recovering that lost revenue but we have not had any
cases go to court yet."

Meyers said hydro officials are worried about the grow operations.

"This is a very sophisticated job," he said of the power bypass rigged on
Mayors Manor. "But it is not very safe."

"They are (cutting in and bypassing the meter) live," he said. "There is
tunnelling involved to get at the underground wiring before the meter and
no one is shutting the power off first.

"It is very dangerous."