Pubdate: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2001 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Chad Skelton, Vancouver Sun Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) MASSIVE POT OPERATION RAIDED Police Suspect City's Biggest Marijuana Warehouse Was Set To Expand The suspects behind what Vancouver police believe was the largest marijuana-growing operation in the city looked like they were planning to expand, police said Sunday. When police raided a warehouse in the 1300-block of Frances Street, they discovered a massive operation of more than 700 plants with a wholesale value of about $1.3 million, and a street value twice that high. But police say they also found several boxes of unopened hydroponic equipment, leading them to believe those behind the operation were planning to expand into the warehouse's empty second floor. "There were boxes and boxes of additional equipment," said police spokesman Detective Scott Driemel. "And there was still the upstairs that could have been utilized." The Vancouver police drug squad began surveillance on the Frances Street warehouse early Saturday morning after learning of the operation and obtaining a search warrant. At about 3:30 a.m. a man left the warehouse driving a 1999 Mercedes. Police stopped the car and arrested the man, finding $10,000 in cash and about $8,500 worth of marijuana. At 7 a.m., Vancouver police tried to contact the people remaining in the warehouse by phone and through a megaphone -- both in English and Cantonese. When they received no response, the police emergency response team fired two Arwen rounds -- large rubber bullets -- into the second-floor window. The five men inside came to the window but refused to come out. Then the Emergency Response Team broke down the warehouse's front glass door. Once the front door was broken down, Driemel said, the five suspects inside came out and gave themselves up voluntarily. All five -- four adults and one 16-year-old -- were arrested. None of the suspects, all Asian, has yet been charged and their names have not been released. Inside the warehouse, police found a growing operation unlike anything they had seen before. "It's probably the most sophisticated hydroponic grow operation that our drug unit has ever seen in Vancouver," Driemel said. "It was described by our drug squad unit as so large it looked like a Christmas tree farm." There were 90 lamps inside the operation, $50,000 worth of hydroponic equipment and a forklift. Driemel said most growing operations raided in the city have a wholesale value of about $100,000-$300,000, with the largest usually around the half-million mark. "I don't think we've ever had anything near this," Driemel said. One of the things that made the value of the growing operation so high was that most of the plants were close to maturity. "It appears that we got there just as they were getting ready to harvest," Driemel said. He said police believe this was the group's first crop. Driemel said the scope of the operation leads police to believe organized crime was behind it, but he said investigators have not yet identified which group was involved. Vancouver police have raided more than 600 growing operations so far this year. - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl