Pubdate: Wed, 06 Dec 2006
Source: Kelowna Capital News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006, West Partners Publishing Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.kelownacapnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1294
Author: John Mcdonald
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Marijuana - Canada)

RCMP'S GREEN TEAM BUSTS IN ON LOCAL GROW OPS

They didn't announce it until yesterday but the Kelowna  RCMP Green
Team has been busy lately raiding 23 large  gang-related marijuana
grow houses since the end of  October.

Sgt. Tim Shields, head of the drug enforcement unit,  and Const. Annie
Linteau, detachment spokeswoman, laid  out the details of the team's
work in a media briefing  yesterday morning, which included a short
video of one  of the raids at an undisclosed location.

Linteau said the 12-member team had seized a total of  10,500 plants,
arrested 21 people and had charges  pending against another 14 people
who police have yet  to locate. She estimated the street value of the
seized  plants at over $8 million.

"This project has been so far successful and produced  admirable
results," said Linteau, who linked all of the  busts to organized crime.

Sgt. Shields said police had evidence from the raids  that tied some
of them directly to the Independent  Soldiers, a largely Indo-Canadian
gang, and Vietnamese  gangs as well as indirect evidence tying some of
the  grow houses to the Hell's Angels.

Shields said many of the houses the drug squad entered  had reinforced
doors but no guns or booby traps were  discovered during any of the
raids.

He characterized the grow houses as "large scale  commercial
operations capable of producing large  amounts of marijuana," and said
the bulk of the product  was likely intended to be smuggled into the
United  States.

One of the operations, located inside a large barn near  Oyama, had
216 lights inside and was capable of growing  10,000 plants at a time,
he said.

Linteau and Shields emphasized the danger of the large  grow houses,
saying they pose a fire risk and a health  hazard as well as expose
neighbours to possible death  or injury during gang turf wars or rip-offs.

They urged the public to continue phoning in grow house  tips to Crime
Stoppers and the local detachment even  though the enhanced Green Team
program has now ended.

"Organized crime knows no boundaries," said Linteau.  "The money made
by the individuals involved in  cultivation are used to fund other
criminal operations.  They are clearly a threat to public safety and
well-being and we take every report of a drug operation  seriously."

Linteau said police priority lies in larger grow houses  but that they
would not ignore a tip on what she termed  "mom and pop" operations.

"Obviously we do have to establish priorities," she  said. "A larger
marijuana grow operation will take  precedence over something with one
plant in somebody's  basement but the message is still the same;
growing  marijuana is illegal."

RCMP Supt. Bill McKinnon, also at the media briefing,  said the raids
had netted a quantity of cash and that  police would be moving ahead
with applications for  seizure of proceeds of crime from many of the
houses.

Shields said police could not say where the Central  Okanagan ranked,
in terms of marijuana production in  B.C., but added that the team's
efforts were making a  dent in local production. "I have very reliable
  information that some growers in Kelowna are  dismantling their
operations because of our efforts,"  he said.

"The word on the street is out thereaE&so we're having  some impact."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake