Pubdate: Wed, 01 May 2002
Source: Hamilton Spectator (CN ON)
Copyright: The Hamilton Spectator 2002
Contact:  http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/181
Authors: Barbara Brown, Lori Fazari

MARIJUANA HOUSES GROWING OUT OF CONTROL

More than 100 large-scale marijuana labs are quietly operating in 
residential neighbourhoods but Hamilton police have been too busy to raid 
them. That was the testimony yesterday from a drug-and-vice squad officer, 
Detective Mark Petkoff, who took part in a January raid in which 532 
marijuana plants were seized from a Stoney Creek house, along with $30,000 
in pot-growing equipment and nearly $8,000 in cash. He told Ontario Court 
Justice Bernd Zabel the number and size of residential grow operations in 
Hamilton has increased dramatically in the past 18 months. "There are well 
over 100 suspected grow operations which have not been investigated. We 
base this on Crime Stoppers and other tips that come into our office. Your 
Honour, I constantly get calls from neighbours and that is sometimes how we 
prioritize these things."

The detective was testifying at the sentence hearing of Khuong Van Nguyen, 
38, who pleaded guilty on March 7 to cultivating cannabis marijuana and to 
theft of electricity valued at more than $5,000.

Police were alerted by Hamilton Hydro after the utility received an 
anonymous tip about a suspected hydro theft at a Chianti Crescent 
residence. When the utility investigated, its agent noticed a strong odour 
of marijuana evident from the front sidewalk of the two-storey, 
single-family house.

In a recent interview, Police Chief Ken Robertson told The Spectator: 
"There are only so many officers we can devote to breaking up home-grows 
when there's all kinds of other crimes to contend with."

Carmen Upton, a revenue protection specialist at Hamilton Hydro, testified 
the house, which was home to several adults and four small children, was a 
dangerous fire trap and an electrocution hazard.

In order to power 53 grow lamps of 1,000 watts each, the illegal gardeners 
bypassed their hydro meter and tapped directly into the power lines 
servicing the house. By this means, they milked the utility of thousands of 
dollars a month in stolen electricity.

Upton said this type of electrical theft amounts to losses in the millions 
of dollars a year for Hamilton Hydro.

When the utility company read the meter at 32 Chianti Crescent on Jan. 25, 
it showed 203 watts of power. But when measured at the source, the actual 
amount surging into the house was a whopping 29,040 watts. This far 
exceeded the safe rating or capacity of the home's 100-ampere service, 
Upton said.

Upton entered with police when they executed their search warrant on Jan. 
30. He said the house was rife with fire and electrical hazards, including 
exposed live wires and overheated electrical ballasts, which were used to 
operate fluorescent lamps.

"They had fans blowing on this equipment, trying to keep it cool, but the 
wooden shelves under the ballasts were all scorched and burned."

Police laboured several hours in 32 C heat carting portable fans, blowers, 
piping, hydroponic equipment, garbage pails and plastic bags out of the house.

Petkoff said the potential value of the marijuana seized was $532,000. At a 
street value of $300 per ounce, it would require a yield of 3 1/3 ounces of 
bud per plant to make $1,000. This estimate does not include shake from 
leaves and stems, which is used to manufacture cannabis resin.

Detective Sergeant Rick Wills, head of vice and drugs, said the 16-officer 
unit was swamped with tips about marijuana grow operations.

Petkoff said precautionary measures require at least six officers to 
execute a raid on a suspected grow operation.

The day Nguyen was busted, more than 100 search warrants were executed by 
police services across Canada in a project called Operation Green-sweep, 
which targeted hydroponic marijuana operations across the country.

Nguyen's sentence hearing continues on May 9.
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MAP posted-by: Beth