Pubdate: Tue, 09 Mar 2004
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2004 The Edmonton Journal
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Author: The Canadian Press; CanWest News Service

INDUSTRIAL-SCALE GROW OP BUSTED IN B.C.; 49 ARRESTED

Police Find Pot Farms In Two Toronto Highrises

MISSION, B.C. - RCMP interrupted an industrial-sized marijuana harvest in a 
raid on a Fraser Valley farm.

Inside a two-storey barn they found 48 workers on Friday in the middle of 
cutting down more than 3,000 marijuana plants. One person in the house also 
was arrested.

The high-tech hydro bypass ran 12 industrial-sized air conditioners and 
hundreds of thousand-watt grow lights.

Cpl. Murray Power said interrupting the harvest was a stroke of luck.

"I've come across a harvest probably twice in my service," he said. "To 
find 49 people is phenomenal."

Police said the stolen electricity for the lights alone could have powered 
70 average homes.

Power said most of those arrested didn't know where they were. The workers 
- -- all from the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley -- were brought to the 
marijuana factory in the back of a cube van and returned after their shift.

"This year is a booming year in this industry and it's very frustrating," 
Power said. "We're not gaining any ground whatsoever. The tips just roll in 
by the day. We just can't even come close to keeping up with them."

Meanwhile in Toronto, police have uncovered an elaborate hydroponic 
marijuana-growing operation, believed to be linked to organized crime, that 
was housed in eight apartments in two high-rise residential buildings in 
the city's west end. Police said 850 plants were seized with a street value 
of about $400,000.

The apartments used to grow the plants were connected and police said they 
posed great danger to tenants in the building. The dwellings were covered 
with mould and, police said, sealed doors, windows and mail slots in 
combination with exposed live wires were a fire hazard.

"These buildings have kids on every single floor," Det. Howie Page said. 
"At this stage, we've got eight apartments. I honestly can't say we have 
them all."

The growers used four apartments in two 19-storey highrise buildings. The 
size of the plants in some apartments was an indication the operation had 
been running for several months, police said, and in others it looked as 
though it had just started.

Growers did a fair amount of construction to convert the units into working 
grow operations police said, causing at least $150,000 in damage. Holes 
were drilled through concrete floors so units could share electrical and 
exhaust systems. Walls were constructed to divide each two-bedroom unit 
into "growing, harvesting and final product rooms," and a "farmer's field 
worth of soil" was also brought up to the units, Page said. Tenants, 
building security and management didn't detect any of this activity, police 
said.

About $50,000 worth of equipment and the complexity of the operation led 
police to believe it was being run by an organized criminal organization.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart