cannabisnews.com: Police Battle Booming Marijuana Industry in BC





Police Battle Booming Marijuana Industry in BC
Posted by FoM on February 04, 2000 at 08:57:39 PT
The Associated Press
Source: Oregon Live
Vancouver-area police are redoubling their brown-thumb effort to combat a booming indoor marijuana production business in British Columbia. Over the past two years, the number of marijuana growing operations raided in the province has jumped by almost a thousand to 3,331. 
Dave Keller, a U.S. border patrol intelligence agent, said agents in Washington state seized more than half a ton of southbound marijuana last year, nearly twice as much as in 1998 and more than 10 times the haul in 1997. In Delta, municipal police have tripled the size of their drug squad and are launching a community-wide campaign to run growers of "B.C. Bud" out of town, partly with a special telephone snitch line. Officers say they plan to mail a pamphlet to all households in the region warning of the dangers associated with marijuana growing houses and offering advice on how to identify one -- for example, heavy window condensation, heavy traffic at odd hours and windows boarded up to contain the bright lights of grow lamps. British Columbia Hydro officials tip off police when electricity bills suddenly go through the roof. Burglars who know about pot production sometimes unwitting lead police to them when neighbors report break-ins. Police "Green Teams" formed to raid marijuana operations in Langley, Surrey and Coquitlam say they regularly have dozens more solid tips on their desk than they have the resources to follow. "There's a list of grow ops in the wings that we're just waiting to take down," said Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Janice Armstrong "It's just a matter of the time and bodies to do it." The locally grown marijuana is said to be much stronger than pot grown elsewhere, and police are concerned that what was once a random assortment of mostly amateur basement operations seems to have been supplanted by violent organized crime organizations. Mounties Cpl. Scott Rintoul cited similarities in layout, materials and wiring. "The actual grow rooms are identical from residence to residence across the Lower Mainland," Rintoul said. Published: February 4, 2000Vancouver, British Columbia (AP) ©2000 Oregon Live LLCRelated Articles:Super Pot: B.C.'s Bonanza - 2/01/2000http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4546.shtmlMary Jane In The Hot House - 1/02/2000http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4545.shtmlBe Careful Kicking Down the Door - 1/01/2000http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4544.shtml 
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on February 04, 2000 at 18:35:23 PT
Related Article 
Reefer Madness: The War On PotDelta is the latest Lower Mainland community to target marijuana growing operations and the police department's drug squad has developed a secret weapon -- a snitch line.Police across the Lower Mainland are stepping up their battle against B.C.'s booming indoor marijuana industry.But despite devoting more time, more people and more resources to the effort, the sheer number of pot entrepreneurs in the province leaves police with a daunting task.Click the link to read the complete article.Article Courtesy Of MapInc.
Reefer Madness: The War On Pot
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