Pubdate: Wed, 25 May 2005
Source: Record, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.royalcityrecord.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1654
Author: Mia Thomas
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

DRUG OPERATIONS A GROWING CONCERN

Marijuana is being grown in mini-fortresses throughout New Westminster and 
police are finding increasingly large and complex grow ops.

"We're not talking about 10 or 12 plants," Insp. Frank Ciaccia of the New 
Westminster Police Service's criminal investigations division told a recent 
police board meeting.

In the 300 block of Nootka Street, police found a grow op set up throughout 
the basement of the home.

Doors to the complex operation were barricaded and police had to use a 
chainsaw to get in through a trap door.

Inside, they found about 400 plants in various stages and an electrical 
hazard: the power had been diverted from a 220-volt line upstairs and 
several lights, ballasts and capacitors had open wires, crossed lines 
sitting openly on floors near pools of water.

Old and dry, the house was a firetrap under these conditions.

Police were particularly concerned because there was a day care two doors 
away and both a school and Hume Park across the street.

Nobody was home at the time of the search, but Ciaccia said they always 
have to be careful.

"They're not only dangerous in terms of the way they're set up, they're 
dangerous in terms of who we're investigating," he explained.

Among other marijuana grow ops that police have dismantled recently was one 
in the 300 block of Boyne Street, in Queensborough.

Inside a bunker, built into the back of the home, police found a large crop 
of plants. The house itself had been heavily barricaded.

Because of this, and because the people inside were known to have had 
weapons, the municipal integrated emergency response team made the entry 
and arrests.

The drug squad had heard rumours about this place a year ago but couldn't 
find it.

Following the raid, one man was arrested and charged, and the city sealed 
the house up.

Several grow ops have brought up the issue of landlord responsibility.

Police had dismantled a sophisticated grow op in a house in the 1500 block 
of Nanaimo Street, about 1,000 plants staggered to produce crops every five 
or six weeks.

There was no one home when the police arrived, but charges were recommended 
and warrants for their arrest requested.

However, police also found that the homeowners, who actually lived next 
door, had just been renting the house out before they tore it down.

They told police they suspected something was going on but didn't do 
anything so they'll now have to pay the cost of dealing with the house.

"They are aware that people are not actually residing there: they would 
show up and leave," Ciaccia said of the landlords.

Police board member Baj Puri questioned whether landlords were being 
treated fairly in cases involving grow operations.

"Getting a tenant out of a house is not easy," he said.

"Landlords are being hit with too much."

But Ciaccia explained that landlords do have options if they suspect 
tenants are doing something illegal.

And someone has to pay for what it costs the city to deal with a grow 
operation, whether it's the price of police or safety inspectors.

The actual amount varies because more police time is required for the 
larger operations.

Thirty plants, Ciaccia noted, can be taken down a lot quicker than 1,000 
plants.

"There is a mechanism in place now to recover the costs associated (with 
the grow op)," he added.

Mike Judd, deputy chief constable for the New Westminster Police Service, 
said it's not cheap to deal with the grow operations.

"Some of these places are very sophisticated," Judd explained."There's a 
lot of time and resources put into it."

There have been more large grow ops around the city.

In the 1000 block of Fourth Avenue, police found an operation with about 
300 high-grade plants, ready to be harvested.

They arrested one person and the power and water to the house were shut off.

However, there have been grow ops in the home in the past, so the city is 
considering charging the owners for the costs.

Next door to this last house, police talking to residents became suspicious 
and searched the home, with the people's consent.

Although they found plants and equipment inside, there won't be any 
criminal charges.

However, the items were seized and the City of New Westminster told so that 
electricity usage at the house can be monitored.
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MAP posted-by: Beth