Pubdate: Sat, 01 Mar 2003
Source: Winnipeg Sun (CN MB)
Copyright: 2003 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact:  http://www.fyiwinnipeg.com/winsun.shtml
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/503
Author: Kevin Engstrom

HIGH-BROW POT BUST

Drug Police Raid Posh Tuxedo Home

Mounties have busted a million-dollar grow-op in a posh Tuxedo neighbourhood.

Acting on a tip, the RCMP drug unit raided an upscale home at 46 Park Pl. 
E. yesterday and uncovered a lucrative hydroponic grow operation in the 
basement. About 1,000 marijuana plants and three ounces of dry bud with a 
combined street value of $1 million was seized in the raid, RCMP Sgt. Steve 
Saunders said last night.

An illegal electrical hookup appears to have been used to power the 
grow-op, he said.

No charges have been laid, but a man and a woman living at the home have 
been taken into custody. Their names have not been released.

Neighbours in the quiet neighbourhood said two couples believed to be in 
their mid-20s had recently moved into the home, which is rented out by 
owners Ollie and Sofia Suvajac.

"They came in October or November," said next-door neighbour Marsha 
McKenzie. "The guys had come first and they had told Ollie their wives were 
coming later. They told him they were coming from Alberta but were 
originally from Morden."

The two-storey, 2,500 square-foot home was built in 1985 and has an 
assessed value of nearly $212,000, according to city records.

"It's a very nice home," said McKenzie of the nine-room home. "It's very 
beautifully done, with a fireplace, marble floors and lovely oak finishing."

At least 30 Mounties from four different departments were on the scene at 
the time of the raid, alarming many residents in the posh neighbourhood.

'SCARED AND FRIGHTENED'

"I'm scared and frightened. I want to sell this place. This is supposed to 
be a nice neighbourhood. Stuff like this is supposed to happen in skid row, 
not here," said Anne Lindgren, who watched the police raid from her front 
window.

"This is the quietest street in the world," said McKenzie. "We used to joke 
that people in this neighbourhood could be criminals and we'd never know."

Last month, city cops warned Winnipeggers to be on the lookout for similar 
grow-ops in their neighbourhood. Grow-ops, as well as clandestine drug 
labs, have been turning up with some regularity in middle and 
upper-middle-class neighbourhoods, Const. Bob Johnson said last month.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens