Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
The number of marijuana growing operations dismantled by the Vancouver Police Department has dropped significantly in the past decade.
Statistics released to the Courier show police have so far busted 47 grow-ops this year as compared to 455 for all of 2001. The drop has been steady, with 224 dismantled in 2004 and 89 in 2007.
Sgt. Neil Munro of the department's Growbusters team pointed to two reasons for the decline--ongoing enforcement has made the city less desirable for growers, and those growers still here have developed methods to better hide their operations.
"There are people who are growing now in Saskatchewan who were originally arrested in Vancouver five or six years ago," Munro said.
Of the 47 grow-ops busted, police seized 26,443 plants and recommended 44 charges. Most of the busts occurred in houses, including one in the 2900-block of East Fifth Avenue where police removed 3,620 plants.
In previous years, the VPD's Growbusters program was criticized for rarely recommending charges when it busted a grow-op. But Munro said the focus in the early part of the decade was to rid the grow-ops from neighbourhoods and move on to the next one.
"There was just so many, they couldn't keep up," said Munro, pointing out police busted up to 10 houses per day.
Previously, grow-ops were easier to identify. But the days of dilapidated houses, with blacked out windows, overgrown yards and the strong skunky smell of marijuana are rare, Munro said.
Growers have become smarter about how they conceal a grow-op.
Investigators have busted grow-ops where growers have essentially built a house within a house.
"All the windows have a facade outside," Munro said. "So when you look in, it's like you're looking into a kid's bedroom. They'll have toys and that in the window and when you actually get in there, that room only goes back about three or four feet from the window."
Gone too are the mom-and-pop marijuana operations, said Munro, noting organized criminals are behind the grow-ops. Police showed the scale of the marijuana trade in July when it revealed Project Trapdoor.
The project focused on two houses in the 3200-block Renfrew Street and 4800-block Knight Street. The houses were used as "transfer houses," where marijuana was packaged and sold.
Police said more than 70 vehicles were observed at one of the houses. Police stopped one vehicle, seized 24 pounds of marijuana and recovered US$40,000 from another car.
With grow-ops in the city producing an average of 500 plants, and a pound of marijuana fetching $1,200 to $1,800, the attraction for organized crime is evident--it's lucrative, Munro said.
Part of the VPD's approach to stemming the proliferation includes seizing assets from growers including cash, cars and houses. The Growbusters team now has a dedicated officer in charge of seizing property. The VPD has referred 31 houses, most of which are tied to the marijuana trade, to the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office in Victoria. Another five houses are included in criminal court proceedings.
Munro said he doesn't have time to track the range of penalties growers receive in the courts. However, he said, investigations have shown some suspects who have gone through the courts are later tied to other grow-ops.
Since grow-ops became popular in the late 1990s, police have been told there were 10,000 operations in the city. Munro was told the same number recently by a grower. "I mean this is my job and I don't know how many are out there. I can just deal with one when we get one. We go after it, and that's that."
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Vancouver Courier
Contact: editor@vancourier.com
Website: canada.com
Author: Mike Howell
Statistics released to the Courier show police have so far busted 47 grow-ops this year as compared to 455 for all of 2001. The drop has been steady, with 224 dismantled in 2004 and 89 in 2007.
Sgt. Neil Munro of the department's Growbusters team pointed to two reasons for the decline--ongoing enforcement has made the city less desirable for growers, and those growers still here have developed methods to better hide their operations.
"There are people who are growing now in Saskatchewan who were originally arrested in Vancouver five or six years ago," Munro said.
Of the 47 grow-ops busted, police seized 26,443 plants and recommended 44 charges. Most of the busts occurred in houses, including one in the 2900-block of East Fifth Avenue where police removed 3,620 plants.
In previous years, the VPD's Growbusters program was criticized for rarely recommending charges when it busted a grow-op. But Munro said the focus in the early part of the decade was to rid the grow-ops from neighbourhoods and move on to the next one.
"There was just so many, they couldn't keep up," said Munro, pointing out police busted up to 10 houses per day.
Previously, grow-ops were easier to identify. But the days of dilapidated houses, with blacked out windows, overgrown yards and the strong skunky smell of marijuana are rare, Munro said.
Growers have become smarter about how they conceal a grow-op.
Investigators have busted grow-ops where growers have essentially built a house within a house.
"All the windows have a facade outside," Munro said. "So when you look in, it's like you're looking into a kid's bedroom. They'll have toys and that in the window and when you actually get in there, that room only goes back about three or four feet from the window."
Gone too are the mom-and-pop marijuana operations, said Munro, noting organized criminals are behind the grow-ops. Police showed the scale of the marijuana trade in July when it revealed Project Trapdoor.
The project focused on two houses in the 3200-block Renfrew Street and 4800-block Knight Street. The houses were used as "transfer houses," where marijuana was packaged and sold.
Police said more than 70 vehicles were observed at one of the houses. Police stopped one vehicle, seized 24 pounds of marijuana and recovered US$40,000 from another car.
With grow-ops in the city producing an average of 500 plants, and a pound of marijuana fetching $1,200 to $1,800, the attraction for organized crime is evident--it's lucrative, Munro said.
Part of the VPD's approach to stemming the proliferation includes seizing assets from growers including cash, cars and houses. The Growbusters team now has a dedicated officer in charge of seizing property. The VPD has referred 31 houses, most of which are tied to the marijuana trade, to the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office in Victoria. Another five houses are included in criminal court proceedings.
Munro said he doesn't have time to track the range of penalties growers receive in the courts. However, he said, investigations have shown some suspects who have gone through the courts are later tied to other grow-ops.
Since grow-ops became popular in the late 1990s, police have been told there were 10,000 operations in the city. Munro was told the same number recently by a grower. "I mean this is my job and I don't know how many are out there. I can just deal with one when we get one. We go after it, and that's that."
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Vancouver Courier
Contact: editor@vancourier.com
Website: canada.com
Author: Mike Howell
