Pubdate: Wed, 08 Dec 2010 Source: 100 Mile House Free Press (CN BC) Copyright: 2010 100 Mile House Free Press Contact: http://www.100milefreepress.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2143 Author: Ken Alexander CRIME NIPPING GROW OPERATIONS IN THE BUD In the past four months, a federally funded RCMP task force has busted 27 grow-ops and confiscated more than 54,000 marijuana plants in a region covering 100 Mile House to Prince George. RCMP Federal Drug Enforcement Branch (FDEB) spokesperson Const. Michael McLaughlin made the announcement in Prince George on Dec. 3. Twenty-four suspects have been arrested during the raids, which began Sept. 7, and charges are pending further investigation. Police also seized half a dozen unregistered firearms during the busts. It was noted the Cariboo Region Inte-grated Marijuana Enforcement (CRIME) Task Force was formed to fight the problem of commercial-scale marijuana grow-ops, which are 33 per cent larger than they used to be. CRIME is also a response to a 300 per cent increase in complaints from people living in the region between May 2009 and September 2010. During this timeframe, there was a 60 per cent increase in police investigations into grow-ops in the Cariboo. The task force consists of some 25 officers from the RCMP FDEB, Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit and drug investigators from 100 Mile House, Williams Lake, Quesnel and Prince George. 100 Mile House RCMP S/Sgt. Brian Coldwell said Monday that marijuana cultivation investigations more than doubled in this detachment area because it was set as a priority during 2008/09. "When we became aware of the size of the problem in our area, we started to actively target those operations. But, we were limited in the scope of our budget and the manpower we could use. "We're a provincial detachment, we have a budget and we are supposed to operate within that budget. These grow operations are expensive in terms of the amount of manpower that's required to combat them." Because of the amount of money they were spending on the investigations, Coldwell said they took the problem to the Cariboo Regional District, Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett and Kamloops- Thompson-Cariboo MP Cathy McLeod. "Donna Barnett was instrumental in bringing attention to the matter, which resulted in a decision being made by the North District commander to look at the situation and to get some help from our federal partners." This led to CRIME being formed using federal money through RCMP's drug section, Coldwell said, adding it's supported by provincial resources, including manpower from the provincial detachments in the Cariboo. During this timeframe, he noted the local detachment has executed six search warrants in its coverage area. Coldwell said they have been getting some information through the Crime Stoppers program, but investigators had also been watching some suspects for a while. Noting CRIME is a one-year pilot project that began in September, Coldwell said he doesn't know if it will continue after the year is up, but he's happy it's here now. "It means our local members can spend more time in our other areas of crime fighting." During last Friday's announcement, it was noted the grow-ops were linked to local, provincial and international gangs, with a connection to some Asian groups. Indications are the pot is being grown for export purposes, with much of it being transported south of the border in exchange for cocaine and firearms. Meanwhile, Coldwell said it's a bigger problem than just growing marijuana, as there's also the impact on community safety. Police are concerned about fire hazards when people are stealing power and the extensive electrical wiring issues involved in the large grow operations. CRIME officials announced there are more takedowns and arrests to come, and the Federal RCMP is actively targeting the senior leaders of these criminal operations. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt