3,000 PLANTS - THAT'S A LOT OF POT

One Arrest At Home Being Used Exclusively As Grow Op

Police dismantled Coquitlam's largest residential marijuana grow
operation ever this week, seizing nearly 3,000 pot plants from a home
on Westwood Plateau.

Tuesday, Coquitlam RCMP's Marijuana Enforcement Team (MET) acted on
information from BC Hydro about suspected theft of power from 3075
Yellowcedar Crt., off Plateau Boulevard.

Inside the three-storey home, which police say was being used
exclusively as a pot farm, officers uncovered six grow rooms in the
basement with 2,970 marijuana plants (257 pounds of pot) in various
stages of growth; an electrical bypass was also located in a grow
room, said Coquitlam RCMP Const. Dave Babineau.

A 34-year-old Burnaby woman was arrested for theft of hydro,
possession of a controlled substance and production for the purpose of
trafficking.

Neighbours told The Tri-City News Wednesday they had no idea illegal
activity was going on in their cul de sac. One man said he never saw
anyone enter or leave the home.

"I saw the police going in an out yesterday with big bags," another
neighbour said. "I didn't know what was happening."

Realtor Sophia Wong, who is selling the house next door, said she
doesn't think the bust won't affect the price of her client's home.
"It's not a big problem," she said of the grow op, "because a lot of
houses on Westwood Plateau are like that."

According to statistics, most home-based pot farms busted by Coquitlam
RCMP have been on the Plateau. This and last month, MET found grow ops
at:

1500-block of Starflower Place (254 plants or 76 lb. of
pot);

1400-block of Purcell Drive (679 plants or 84.5 lb. of pot);
and

1500-block of Tanglewood Land (941 plants or 148 lb. of
pot).

Each time, BC Hydro provided information to Mounties about alleged
theft of electricity from the homes.

BC Hydro's Elisha Moreno said the Crown corporation gives data to
police by one of two means: either through a police request under the
Freedom of Information Act about electrical consumption or by
informing police investigators about illegal activity - theft of hydro
- - occurring on a property.

The turn-around for an FOI is about a day, she said, noting FOI
requests "are increasing across the board."