Pubdate: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2002 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers Contact: http://www.theokanagan.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531 Author: J.P. Squire GROW OPS FALL LIKE DOMINOES The Central Okanagan's first RCMP grow-op team has busted 20 marijuana operations this month, with more searches planned for today and Friday. The integrated team of 10 officers has seized more than 6,000 marijuana plants, 32 kilograms of dried marijuana bud and more than $120,000 worth of growing equipment. Charges are pending against 24 people from Lake Country to Westbank. The team, which has RCMP members from the Kelowna detachment, rural detail, Lake Country office and South East District drug squad, also recovered two stolen trucks valued at $45,000 to $55,000 each and a snowmobile. "The objective is to disrupt those engaged in these activities and significantly change the Okanagan's reputation as a choice location for it," RCMP spokesman Const. Garth Letcher said Wednesday. As he spoke, team members dismantled a grow operation in the 1200 block of Findlay Road in North Rutland. Inside the single-storey home were 244 plants 30-50 centimetres tall, under 16 shrouded lights. The bright green plants were full of pungent buds, indicating it was nearly time for harvest. A two-metre tall canister full of charcoal had tried to keep those odours from alerting neighbours. Police had a backlog of tips from Crime Stoppers because the Kelowna drug squad had been involved in a lengthy undercover operation into the production and distribution of methamphetamine, said Letcher. Undercover officers also learned of grow ops during that investigation, which ended in February. In some cases, there were two or three busts a day, keeping 10 RCMP members busy dismantling the equipment and cataloguing evidence. The Kelowna detachment's squad usually has four or five members. Wednesday's bust was an example of a grow operation in a residential neighbourhood which put people who live there at risk, said Letcher. "More and more, we find the criminal element involved, organized crime to some extent. Local people act as brokers for the grow op, specifying how they want it cut and dried." Those involved "feel compelled" to arm themselves against potential rip-offs, he added. Hydro bypasses, to avoid detection by utility companies, increase the likelihood of fire which can spread to adjacent properties, said Letcher. Police have kept samples of the marijuana for upcoming court cases and destroyed the rest, but had to rent a commercial storage facility for the large quantity of grow equipment, which must be kept until the court cases have ended. Letcher admitted "it's difficult to say" what the impact will be on local supply and demand. Findlay Road neighbours, who declined to provide their names, said they had "not a clue" there was a marijuana grow operation at the home. However, one said there had been a "deluxe, top-of-the-line" grow op there three years ago, undetected by police. "We thought everything was normal again after they moved out," she said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom