Pubdate: Sun, 11 Dec 2005 Source: Watertown Daily Times (NY) Copyright: 2005 Watertown Daily Times Contact: http://www.wdt.net Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/792 Author: Carolyn Thompson, Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?246 (Policing - United States - News) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?216 (CN Police) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/grow+operations BORDER AGENTS SEIZING TONS OF HYDROPONIC MARIJUANA BUFFALO - It was just a truck full of frozen waffles, and its Canadian driver was a card carrying member of FAST, the Free and Secure Trade program that speeds the customs process for regulars at the border. But experience told border officers to run the truck through their gamma-ray equipment before sending it on its way to its North Carolina destination. The closer look revealed 1,152 vacuum-sealed bags containing 320 pounds of hydroponic marijuana tucked among the legitimate cargo. The potent Canadian-grown marijuana was once mostly a West Coast find, but has made significant inroads in the East as gangs and individuals have stepped up to meet a robust U.S. demand. During the fiscal year that ended in October, border agents seized about 8,000 pounds of hydroponic marijuana at 17 crossings from Buffalo to Champlain. In fiscal 2004, the number was 12,000 pounds, up from just under 3,000 pounds a year earlier, said spokesman Kevin Corsaro of the Customs and Border Protection's Buffalo field office. "We've intercepted loads going to Florida, going to New York City," Corsaro said. There have been larger seizures, like from the waffle truck Nov. 5, whose driver, Daniel Herbert of Chatham, Ontario, faces charges. And there were similar ones, like the mother and daughter bingo players who authorities said were probably paid to smuggle 25 pounds in their conversion van last year. "There don't seem to be profiles any longer," said Vincent Salvatore, group supervisor for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Federal and local agencies pooled their resources during a yearlong investigation that ended in July with the arrest of 21 people suspected of being part of one Canada-to-New York smuggling run. More than 140 law enforcement agents swarmed through 14 locations in Erie and Niagara counties one morning and seizing about 10 pounds of marijuana, 30 guns and $100,000 in cash. "We believe we made the hit when they were getting ready to make a drug run to Canada," ICE special agent in charge Peter Smith said. Border officials linked eight to 10 seizures of hydroponic marijuana to the drug ring in the 18 months before the raids. Intercepted phone conversations shed light on what became of the drugs that made across the border. "I got, eh, two more copies of that CD," one alleged drug dealer tells a potential customer, using a code. "Yeah?" the customer responds in the conversation outlined in court documents. "Yeah, I had to beg for them," replies the suspect, Larry Masich of Amherst, who is described as one of the operation's primary distributors. "How's the quality. Is the key .Does it sound good?" "It's the exact same, the same CD." The suspects face up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $1 million if convicted of drug distribution and conspiracy charges. The potency is what makes the Canadian -variety marijuana so much in demand. Typical marijuana, grown in Mexico and other southern points, has and average active chemical level of 8 percent. But hydroponic growers have perfected techniques to raise the level of the chemical THC - delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol - to 23 percent to 30 percent. That also raises the value from about $800 a pound to $3,000 or more a pound, Corsaro said. Across the border, Ontario law enforcement officials have been attacking the "grow houses" that produce the high-grade marijuana. They estimate there are 15,000 indoor operations in their province alone, and have been finding more plantation-size outdoor operations cultivating 10,000 to 24,000 plants each. "In the last three and a half years, we've destroyed over a million marijuana plants," said Detective Inspector Frank Elbers, deputy director of the Ontario Provincial Police drug enforcement section. That includes 400,000 plants seized and destroyed from 600 locations from January through September - about double the number in all of last year, he said. Canadian authorities last year shut down a huge growing operation inside a former brewery in Barrie, Ontario, just north of Toronto. Agents seized 30,000 plants valued at nearly $22.5 million in U.S. funds. But smaller operations are more the norm. Unlike stereotypical drug houses in rough and tumble neighborhoods, these grow houses are often located in affluent suburbs. The houses are rewired to accommodate the large electricity demand and well-vented to hide the smell. A 2002 report by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police examining marijuana cultivation estimated the county's annual production at 800 tons and linked most large-scale operations to organized crime, including outlaw motorcycle gangs and Asian-based gangs. The hungry U.S. market provides the incentive. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin