Pubdate: Fri, 06 Feb 2004
Source: Kelowna Capital News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2004, West Partners Publishing Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.kelownacapnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1294
Author: Marshall Jones

CLAMPING DOWN ON POT GROWERS

RCMP Raids Of Marijuana Grow Operations Will Be Intensified

Kelowna RCMP have busted six marijuana grow operations in the Central 
Okanagan in two days and police say we can expect many more to follow.

Const. Don Powell, with the Kelowna RCMP drug section, says they have a 
full contingent of drug squad officers now and they're attention is 
focussed on marijuana.

"Whenever we get an opportunity to do it, we will," he says.

"The drug units for the last 18 months have been concentrating on a few 
groups of cocaine traffickers in town and now we are getting back to marijuana.

"There is a direct link between growing marijuana and importation of 
cocaine in Canada."

Powell digs through bags and bags of dried marijuana bud and examples of 
new adult plants.

"These aren't for hippies growing these for home-grown use, this is high 
grade in large quantities.

"It is put in these bags and shipped to the U.S. in exchange for cocaine 
and firearms coming back."

He says organized crime prefers to grow it in Canada, specifically B.C., 
because we have more flexible laws for marijuana production.

On Wednesday, police got one house with 1,000 plants growing, another one 
with 65 pounds of dried bud and other with 700 plants.

Another three were taken down on Thursday.

Officers from Westbank, Lake Country and Kelowna have been working the 
blitz and they expect more. Lots more.

Police struggle against the belief, founded or not, that marijuana is a 
harmless drug.

It isn't so harmless once it is in the hands of organized crime to produce 
and distribute, he says.

"We are seeing more and more drug rips where drug dealers were ripping off 
other ones," he says.

"They run in using bear spray guns, tazers or guns and rip off grows."

He says they rarely encounter a grow op where weapons of some sort aren't 
found.

The difficulty for the police is wondering if the weapons are to protect 
the crops from rip-offs or for the police.

Powell says police also have to beware of booby-traps and poor electrical 
bypasses.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman