Pubdate: Sun, 27 Aug 2006
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2006 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact:  http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Ian Hitchen, Brandon Sun
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

POLICE BRACE FOR HUGE POT CROP

Outdoor Grow Ops Gaining Root Here

RCMP Staff Sgt. John Fleming, unit commander of the RCMP drug section in 
Manitoba, is listening intently to crop reports lately, but it isn't wheat 
or canola he's interested in.

Warm weather means an early harvest time for crops, including marijuana, 
and the next big outdoor grow-op bust could be just days away.

"We're definitely coming up on that cycle," said Fleming, who hears plants 
are maturing quickly. "What that tells me is that the harvesting season 
could be a little sooner this year than last year."

Last year was the first time organized crime bought rural Manitoba land 
specifically to set up outdoor marijuana-growing operations with thousands 
of plants and Fleming is waiting to see if the trend continues this season.

Outdoor marijuana crops have turned up in Manitoba for years, but they've 
traditionally held only a couple of hundred plants grown by locals for 
local distribution. That changed last year when Mounties raided seven to 
nine massive outdoor operations between August and October, including huge 
operations near Oak Lake and Arden.

The massive outdoor growing operations were connected to Asian gangs based 
in Toronto and Vancouver, Fleming said. Those arrested during raids were 
usually immigrants hired to be marijuana farmers in Manitoba and, unlike 
traditional grow operations, the harvest from the gang-related operations 
wasn't for local use. Based on surveillance done before police raided grows 
in Inwood and Sundown, police allege marijuana was grown, packaged, loaded 
into rental vans and shipped east along the Trans-Canada Highway.

"In this case the product was returning to Ontario," said Fleming. "What 
they were going to do with it when it got to Ontario we're not privy to."

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Vigilance pays off Organized crime introduced large outdoor marijuana grow 
operations to Manitoba last year, but police discovered a powerful 
crime-fighting tool that helped them find and shut them down -- alert 
farmers and other rural residents.

"One of the big things that these folks neglected to consider was this is 
'Friendly Manitoba,' " said RCMP Staff Sgt. John Fleming, unit commander of 
the RCMP drug section in Manitoba. "In virtually all of the cases there was 
a component of information received from the community."

Things to watch for:

* new neighbours who don't come out for social events;

* chains and "No Trespassing" signs at the ends of driveways;

* farmers who claim to be raising livestock but have no animals visible on 
their land;

* farmers who do not clear fields of brush right to the road so they can 
conceal their crop; or

* farmers who cannot accurately describe the farm equipment they are using.

Report suspicions to local police or Manitoba Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D