Pubdate: Tue, 21 Jun 2005
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Darah Hansen
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

HUMAN BLOOD FOUND EARLIER AT SITE OF POT FIRE

Police Probe Links To Previous Discovery After Marijuana Inferno

RICHMOND - Police are investigating possible links between the discovery of 
a massive marijuana-growing operation inside a warehouse destroyed by fire 
Sunday and traces of human blood found there 18 months earlier.

"We have attended to this complex before," RCMP Cpl. Peter Thiessen 
confirmed at a press conference held Monday outside the smouldering remains 
of the 10,000-sq-ft warehouse at 11091 Bridgeport Road.

Police are waiting for the structure to cool down before beginning a search 
for the body of a man who may have died in the blaze.

Two witnesses claim they saw a man trapped on the second floor of the 
burning building but heat and smoke kept them from performing a rescue. 
Thiessen said it's not clear if that story is accurate.

What is clear, however, is that the building was being used to grow 
marijuana. Police say one-third of the two-storey warehouse was found to 
contain thousands of plants, growing in two-gallon pots arranged in rows. 
Thiessen called the operation "one of the largest grows that we've seen."

Police aren't saying whether they suspect if any other criminal activity 
may have taken place at the site, including a rumoured illegal nightclub.

In November 2003, the warehouse was the subject of a police investigation 
involving 40 officers, including members of the Missing Women's Task Force 
and the RCMP's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

Police remained mum about details surrounding the investigation, saying 
only that they were looking for "persons of interest" associated with the 
warehouse after human blood was found inside. After a week on site, 
however, the probe ended with police declaring they had no reason to 
suspect criminal activity.

On Monday, Thiessen said police and fire investigators had not determined 
what may have started the fire and what activities were taking place 
inside. He said arson is not suspected, though it has not yet been ruled 
out as a cause.

The warehouse is owned by Ronald Roadburg of Vancouver, who did not return 
phone calls Monday. It is leased through Broadway Properties Ltd., a 
property management company. According to police, the building has been 
used as a storage facility for a variety of businesses, which sub-lease 
from a principal tenant. That person is currently travelling in the 
Philippines, police said.

According to city records, there is no active business licence registered 
at the address -- a requirement for all Richmond businesses.

Meanwhile, a city bylaw that would have put Roadburg on the hook for costs 
incurred by police and fire crews following discovery of the marijuana 
growing operation is still one week away from receiving final approval by 
Richmond city council.
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MAP posted-by: Beth