Pubdate: Wed, 29 Oct 2003
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2003 Southam Inc.
Contact:  http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Adrian Humphreys, and Stewart Bell 	

VIOLENCE GROWS AS MARIJUANA PROFITS RISE

Suburban 'Epidemic'

Marijuana grow operations, many of them in well-to-do suburban 
neighbourhoods, "have reached epidemic levels in Ontario, Quebec and 
particularly British Columbia," says a classified RCMP report on organized 
crime.

The detailed analysis of threats from myriad sophisticated criminal gangs 
across Canada pegs the illicit indoor and outdoor marijuana gardens as "an 
economic mainstay for all crime groups."

Moreover, the report says the profit from the operations is so great that 
violence over them -- including murders -- is "on the rise in most areas of 
the country."

Police in Canada have seized an average of 1.4 million marijuana plants in 
each of the past four years, representing a six-fold increase from 1993, 
the report says. Based on the size of the seizures and the average plant 
yield, the RCMP estimates the annual marijuana production in Canada to be 
800 tonnes.

"The sheer size of those operations has reached unprecedented levels. Each 
year, several multi-thousand plant operations are discovered both indoors 
and outdoors," the report says.

The cultivation of marijuana, a drug on the verge of going before 
Parliament to decriminalize its possession, is undertaken by many criminal 
groups studied in the RCMP intelligence report obtained by the National Post.

"Outlaw motorcycle gangs used to enjoy a virtual monopoly over marijuana 
grow operations but they now have to contend with an increasing Asian 
organized-crime presence in some parts of the country," the report says.

It is now a particular favourite of Vietnamese gangs.

"Vietnamese-based organized crime groups ... are considered violent and are 
involved in different criminal activities, particularly marijuana grow 
operations and related money laundering."

The gangs often distance themselves from the operation by hiring new 
immigrants to tend the crops.

"Violence has always been an intrinsic part of the production, trafficking 
and distribution of illicit drugs and marijuana is no exception. There are 
broad indications that violence associated with marijuana grow operations 
is on the rise in most areas of the country," the report says.

"The marijuana grow phenomenon continues to grow and it should remain a 
major source of revenue for various types of organized crime. They have a 
disruptive effect on communities, since disputes over these operations can 
turn violent."

The report says police have linked home invasions, drug thefts, burglaries, 
assaults and murders to the operations.

Canada's homegrown marijuana is being smuggled to the United States and the 
proceeds from sales then repatriated to gangsters here. The marijuana is 
also being traded in the United States for cocaine, which is then imported 
and sold in Canada, the report says.

The prominence of issues relating to marijuana grow operations in the 
40-page report, distributed internally in April to help guide and 
prioritize major investigations launched by the RCMP, suggests the 
seriousness with which the force views the problem.

Dan McTeague, a Liberal MP, said the report raises serious concerns that 
are ignored in the government's proposed amendments to the Controlled Drugs 
and Substances Act, the legislation that would decriminalize simple 
possession of marijuana.

"The issue of decriminalization has obscured the real problem here. We seem 
to have lost sight of the profound implications for public security that 
stems from marijuana grow operations," Mr. McTeague said.

The amendments, which also deal with grow operation offences, is "woefully 
inadequate" in tackling the epidemic because it does not require minimum 
prison terms for those caught running the operations, nor does it have 
escalating sentencing provisions for repeat offenders, he said.

"In the rush to meet the Prime Minister's agenda, we are avoiding a very 
serious social and security issue. Most of us see this as a bad Cheech and 
Chong movie, but it is giving rise to the penetration of organized crime 
that now threatens our valued institutions," he said.

Figures contained in a separate confidential report, prepared by the 
Criminal Intelligence Service Ontario and obtained by the Post, says that 
in the Toronto area, in the years 2000 to 2002, 152 sentences were handed 
out for running a grow operation.

Only 42 of them included incarceration; the average sentence was 46 days in 
custody.

The CISO report says 85% of the marijuana cultivation and distribution in 
B.C. is controlled by outlaw bikers and Vietnamese gangs. The joint police 
intelligence agency suspects that situation is mirrored in Ontario, 
although more research is needed.

The RCMP's report says the immediate outlook for law enforcement is not good.

"High profitability, low risk and relatively lenient sentences continue to 
entice growers, making it difficult, if not impossible, for the police to 
make a truly lasting impact on the marijuana cultivation industry in Canada.

"Since marijuana is by far the most popular and widely available illicit 
drug, it is unlikely that the current trend will change in the near 
future," it concludes.

GROW-OPS FLOURISH IN WELL-TO-DO AREAS:

A marijuana grow-op was operated in this home in Coquitlam.

Licensed real estate agents of Vietnamese origin have helped Asian 
organized crime groups purchase or lease homes for use as illicit marijuana 
grow operations, says a confidential report by Criminal Intelligence 
Service Ontario.

The homes, often in well-to-do neighbourhoods, are used to grow massive 
quantities of high-grade marijuana, says the report by the joint police 
agency that co-ordinates funding to police services involved in major 
investigations.

The homes are not the squalid, inner-city crack houses usually associated 
with the drug trade but large, modern suburban homes with double garages.

The report, obtained by the National Post, says recent reports on 
operations raided by police are largely consistent, leading to a portrait 
of a "typical grow op."

The gangsters start by looking for specific homes:

- - They are usually more than 2,000 square feet and priced between $200,000 
and $500,000;

- - The basement is unfinished to facilitate the rewiring needed to hook up 
the 1,000-watt lights and other equipment needed to grow the marijuana plants;

- - A fireplace is needed to vent the powerful odour from the crop; and

- - A large, attached garage is needed to conceal vehicles used to transport 
the harvested crops.

Once the home is bought, a renovation crew installs the heating and venting 
systems and an electrical bypass box to steal the massive amount of 
electricity needed. Spreading the hydro draw between unsuspecting 
neighbours masks the hydro spike when the grow op starts.

"Once the operation is set up, a 'crop sitter' -- often a recent immigrant 
- -- with little or no knowledge of the rest of the operation is paid a 
nominal wage to water the plants and generally tend to the daily upkeep," 
says the report.

"To avoid eliciting suspicion by neighbours, the crop sitter will sometimes 
have his or her entire family live in the dwelling."

The operations typically generate at least 600 plants each cycle with a 
retail value of $600,000.

"As many as 10,000 children may have resided in grow-op dwellings over the 
2000-2003 period," the CISO report says.

Ran with fact box "Grow-Ops Flourish in Well-To-Do Areas" which had been 
appended to the story.;  ---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart