York police find pot worth $15M (How to beat FLIR)
By: Morgan Campbell, Toronto Star (CN ON), 06-16-05


York Region police have arrested 15 people in Markham and Richmond Hill after an eight-day sweep of marijuana grow operations in local homes.

Five children living in the houses were handed over to the Children's Aid Society.

From May 30 to June 2 and again from June 6 to June 8, police discovered marijuana growing inside 18 houses. They seized 15,839 plants, worth an estimated $15 million on the street. More than 8,000 of those plants came from a single house, police said.

They also recovered cash and equipment — fans, lampshades, and light bulbs — worth about $10,000.

"We'll seize everything once we go into a house," said Det. Don Cardwell, who helped organize the campaign, called Operation Power Down.

"It's all offence-related property. It all revolves around organized crime and monetary gain, so that's the area we're focusing on."

Cardwell said that as police technology advances, marijuana growers work harder to be less conspicuous.

For instance, houses with marijuana grow operations emit a lot more heat through rooftop vents than normal homes, and York police often spot them with a helicopter equipped with an infrared camera. But even that haschanged.

"I was up in a helicopter about a month ago and I couldn't find a single one (in Markham)," he said. "Their venting methods have changed. They're venting (heat) through the sewers.

"They probably have better intelligence than we do," he said. "They change their tactics all the time and adapt very quickly to our techniques."

In previous years, he said, a normal operation had 400 to 600 plants, occupied an entire house and ran on stolen electricity.

But he said the operations discovered this month typically topped out at 300 plants and often police found that a family was living in part of the house. A homeowner using electricity and paying the bill helps to keep hydro companies from becoming suspicious, he said.

The people arrested face a total of 42 charges, including possession of a controlled substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking and theft of electricity.

© 2005 H.U.M.A.N.: Hemp Users Medical Access Network - Toronto Medical Marijuana