Pubdate: Sat, 12 Mar 2005
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Chad Skelton
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

POLICE SCRUTINY IN CITIES DRIVES MARIJUANA GROWERS TO RURAL B.C.

B.C.'s marijuana-growing industry, once based almost exclusively in the 
Lower Mainland, is rapidly expanding into every corner of the province as 
organized-crime groups seek cheaper property and less police scrutiny in 
more remote areas.

A study of marijuana growing released Friday by the University College of 
the Fraser Valley reveals that after rapid growth in the late-1990s, the 
number of new growing operations reported to police in B.C. has levelled 
off -- dropping six per cent between 2000 and 2003.

But that overall number masks a stark regional divide: While Greater 
Vancouver and the Fraser Valley have seen a 20-per-cent drop in the number 
of new reported operations, the rest of B.C. has seen a 15-per-cent increase.

And the jump has been even more dramatic than that in some communities. In 
the Kootenays, reported growing operations are up 64 per cent, from 158 in 
2000 to 259 in 2003.

In the Central Okanagan, which includes Kelowna, growing operations are up 
171 per cent -- from 96 to 260.

And in Powell River, reported operations are up almost three-fold (295 per 
cent), from just 19 in 2000 to 75 in 2003.

Insp. Paul Nadeau of the RCMP's Coordinated Marijuana Enforcement Team said 
the reason for the shift is simple.

In more remote areas, criminals have access to larger properties -- which 
allows them to grow more marijuana.

And they are farther away from nosy neighbours who might tip off police.

"If a criminal organization is wanting to generate as much product as they 
can, with as low a profile as they can, they're probably better off to head 
out of town," Nadeau said.

Another factor is that, unlike big urban detachments such as Surrey and 
Langley with dedicated "Green Teams" that focus exclusively on shutting 
down growing operations, many small rural detachments don't have the 
resources to go after them aggressively.

"Nobody's guarding the fort," said criminologist Darryl Plecas, the study's 
lead author.

Port Alberni RCMP Staff Sgt. Lee Omilusik said his detachment has two drug 
officers, but they're responsible for all drug files, not just marijuana.

"They're dealing with everything from methamphetamine to heroin," he said. 
"We don't have a team strictly for marijuana grow operations."

As a result, Omilusik said, the detachment has to balance its response to 
growing operations with the region's other policing needs.

"We do it as the manpower permits," he said. "We're busy with other things 
as well."

Sgt. John Jordan, head of the Kelowna RCMP drug section, said his 
detachment has been flooded with reports of growing operations in the past 
few years.

"There's been a marked increase," he said. "They're in just about every 
neighbourhood in Kelowna in significant numbers."

Jordan said the detachment, which has just six full-time drug 
investigators, has struggled to deal with the problem.

"It certainly does put a huge pressure on resources," he said. "They are 
time-consuming investigations."

To help deal with the backlog of cases, Kelowna has done occasional 
crackdowns. The most recent, a two-month blitz last spring, resulted in 40 
busts.

But Jordan said the problem has become so big that Kelowna is looking at 
establishing its own full-time "Green Team".

Sgt. Andy Brinton of the Powell River RCMP said his detachment is doing 
what it can to crack down on the city's booming pot trade.

But he said it doesn't have enough officers to man a full-time growing 
operations team.

"It's dependent on the information we receive and the workload of the day," 
he said.

Of the operations the detachment has busted, said Brinton, it appears many 
of the growers have moved to Powell River recently from somewhere else, 
often the Lower Mainland.

"I would have to say that the more sophisticated, larger-scale grows that 
we've come across have been people from outside," he said. "A lot of them 
do seem to be from out of town."

One of the things that makes Powell River attractive to growers, said 
Brinton, is a wide selection of cheap property for rent.

"Powell River is a bargain, real estate wise," said Brinton. "So what we're 
finding is people from other areas are buying land here as an investment 
[and] in the meantime, they're offering the trailer or shack on it for rent."

And that combination of cheap rent and an absentee landlord is proving too 
tempting for growers to pass up, he said.

One of the challenges police in Powell River face, Brinton said, is that 
growing operations are a lot harder to investigate in rural areas than they 
are in the city.

In places like Vancouver or Surrey, drug investigators can often collect 
valuable evidence without a search warrant -- smelling marijuana from the 
sidewalk or viewing a fast-spinning hydro meter from an adjacent property.

"It's harder to make those observations when all you see is a long, twisty 
driveway that goes into the bush," Brinton said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth