Pubdate: Sat, 10 Mar 2007 Source: Nanaimo News Bulletin (CN BC) Copyright: 2007, BC Newspaper Group Contact: http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/948 Author: Darrell Bellaart Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) CHILDREN SEIZED AT GROW-OP Two school-age children were taken into care during what Nanaimo RCMP describe as a raid on a "substantial" marijuana grow-op in the family home. A boy and girl, about age 10 and eight, respectively, were taken from Uplands elementary school while RCMP municipal drug section officers started a search of their parents' home in the 4000-block of Uplands Drive. "Our youth response team attended the school where the children were and contacted the Ministry of Children and Families and intervened," said Const. Jen Allan, an RCMP spokeswoman. "There's obviously physical dangers and huge health and safety concerns to anybody exposed to a grow up, but children in particular." Mounties armed with a search warrant, started searching the house at 1 p.m. Thursday. An officer wearing protective clothing and a mask paused at the top of the stairs to avoid tripping on a pair of girls Barbie running shoes. Neatly placed behind them were a pair of dark blue boy's runners. Downstairs, the basement was partitioned off with makeshift walls into separate rooms where the drug was in various stages of growth, from seedlings through leafy plants through a budding cash crop. "They found a fairly sophisticated grow-op," Allan said. Police seized 265 cannabis plants and worked through the afternoon gathering an assortment of grow-op materials -- bales of peat moss, fertilizer, lights and other equipment. Bare wires running to lights and equipment posed the risk of shock or electrocution for members as they seized evidence. No one was arrested on the scene and no names were released. Neighbours said the family that lived there kept to themselves. "We had no contact with them, they never even said hello, not even a wave," said Ian Swanson, who lives across the street. The strong smell made them suspicious a grow-op was in the neighbourhood a year ago. Their 18-year-old son eventually narrowed it down to the house across the street. "My son frankly came to the conclusion it was that house, because there wasn't any frost on the roof, and when he was backing out (in the car) he noticed the smell became stronger," said Colleen Swanson. "We always smelled it in the air and we thought, where is it coming from?" No word was available on the status of the children. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek