Pubdate: Sat, 19 Jul 2003
Source: Richmond Review, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2003 Richmond Public Library
Contact:  http://www.richmondreview.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/704
Author: Philip Raphael

TWO GROW OPS TARGETED

The dangerous side of tending illegal marijuana grow operations revealed 
itself early on Thursday morning as a pair of homes and their residents, 
which included young children, fell victim to gangs of grow rippers.

According to Richmond RCMP, a group of masked suspects armed with baseball 
bats kicked down the front door of a home in the 8200 block of Francis Road 
at around 1:30 a.m. and assaulted a man in his 60s who was there with his 
teenage daughter. The man suffered severe head wounds and was later 
transported to hospital.

The term "grow rippers" is given to marauding groups who exclusively target 
marijuana grow operations for their lucrative crops and the possibility 
that large sums of cash, attained through illegal drug sales, will be on 
the premises.

Police said the home on Francis Road had a crop of approximately 300 
marijuana plants.

Officers at the scene who were responding to a 911 call from the residents 
arrested two suspects caught fleeing the home. A short time later, two 
other suspects were apprehended. The four, one adult and three juveniles, 
were scheduled to appear in Richmond Provincial Court on Friday.

Just under an hour after the first grow rip, police responded to a 911 call 
from a home in the 900 block of No. 4 Road which contained as many as 600 
plants.

A group of three or four males brandishing pepper spray forced their way 
into the home. The residents, a husband, wife, and their eight-year-old son 
and 10-year-old daughter, managed to escape the home through a back door 
and were not injured.

The suspects fled the scene before police arrived.

Based on reports that members of both groups were carrying similar items 
when they broke into the homes, police believe there is a strong 
possibility the two incidents are linked, but would not specify what those 
items were.

Charges against the residents are being contemplated by police who 
expressed concern that young children are becoming involved as innocent 
victims in a risky and illegal business.
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