RCMP DRUG SECTION RAIDS 120 SUSPECTED GROW OPS TO DATE

Most Busts Due To Calls To Tip Lines

By the end of November, the Surrey RCMP Drug Section's Marijuana
Enforcement Team had raided 120 suspected grow ops, seized more than 62,000
plants and $160,000 in cash.

Charges were laid in 61 of the 120 raids.

Officers also uncovered 77 illegal diversions of electricity to power
indoor grow lamps.

The year-to-date figures, released Tuesday, do not include other raids that
result from general police investigations or fire department calls (those
numbers were not available) in Surrey.

The stats also show that three grow ops in Surrey have been seized so far
this year and sold under proceeds of crime laws, and another 13 houses have
been placed under restraint while the courts consider their fate.

The houses, all of them new, upscale residences, are being targeted by the
new full-time Proceeds of Crime Unit formed within the Surrey RCMP Drug
Section.

Police said 80 per cent of the grow ops were investigated as a result of
calls to the Surrey RCMP Drug Tip Line at 604-599-7771 or Crime Stoppers at
1-800-222- TIPS (8477).