Contact: sun.letters@ccinet.ab.ca.

http://www.canoe.ca/EdmontonSun/

April 5, 1998

By IAN McDougall—Edmonton Sun

(Ed. note: Edmonton is in northern Alberta, a long way from anywhere. Now the local narks have discovered the proceeds of forfeiture and have decided that their fair city is the center of a worldwide crime wave. Marijuana seems to cause paranoia and hallucinations more in "journalists" and police than in its users.)

A GROWING CONCERN

MOUNTIES’ GREEN TEAM TARGETS BOOMING HYDROPONIC MARIJUANA FARMS

The RCMP have added a new weapon to their anti-drug arsenal in hopes of nipping Alberta’s growing hydroponic marijuana industry in the bud.

It’s a squad of expert detectives put together at the beginning of the year to sniff out and dig up high-tech indoor pot farms that are producing potent, top-quality dope for distribution around the world.

And they call themselves the Green Team.

There are up to eight cops on the team at any given time - members from the RCMP drug section and investigators from the RCMP proceeds of crime section, which targets property and assets obtained through crime, he added. (Ed. note: A clue!)

The special unit was formed in response to the increasing popularity of hydroponic pot operations in Alberta.

Over the past 10 years, Mounties in northern Alberta have seen a 240% increase in the number of hydroponic cases they’ve handled, up from 66 busts in 1987 to 223 last year.

Simmonds believes the industry growth is largely the result of a surge in demand from south of the border. Pot dealers from Mexico and the U.S. are looking to Alberta and B.C. for marijuana characterized by its potent punch of THC - the active ingredient in weed. He says it’s a matter of people in other countries wanting a top-of-the-line product.

"You’re a person who likes luxury vehicles, but rather than be satisfied with the Cadillac, you import the Rolls Royce," he says.

Tests on Alberta marijuana plants have shown THC concentrations as high as 20%, which is 10 times stronger than the dope that was being smoked in the 1960s.

(Ed. note: The DEA trains its propagandists well. There is no data on potency from the 60’s and no good way of comparing samples from one period with another. As for the 20%, I am very dubious, or envious.)

Simmonds couldn’t pinpoint what makes the Alberta pot growers so good at what they do but said it probably has something to do with the large number of indoor marijuana grow operations. (Ed. note: Indoors in Alberta is very different from indoors elsewhere?)

Growing dope inside allows the cultivator to have control over the conditions and engineer the perfect plant, he said.

Computer-controlled lighting and growing conditions powered by pairs of $25,000 industrial generators that alone could run whole farms have been discovered. They are fed by elaborate plumbing and powered by electrical systems so complex they can require an electrician’s expertise to set up.

Cops say hydroponic "consultants" are even available for hire - a weed-growing whiz who helps set up large-scale growing operations for a price.

Simmonds has seen some grow operations where the trailers from 18-wheelers have been buried underground to house the grow operation.

"Clearly, the brains behind the operation are very knowledgeable and experienced," he said.

Costs for setting up a high-tech grow operation - including land, generators, fertilizer and electrical equipment - can go over $100,000, he said.

But with prices for premium weed reaching $3,500 a pound, a grower can quickly recover the costs. (Ed. note: Argument against marijuana prohibition.)

And cops say with such profits comes the involvement of organized crime and the financing of more weed factories.

"We are increasingly becoming aware of financial involvement of outlaw motorcycle groups in the financing of these operations," says Simmonds. "Clearly, it’s an area where organized crime is becoming actively involved." (Ed. note: Argument against marijuana prohibition.)

In some cases, the hydroponic dope is being traded for other drugs like cocaine, he adds.
(Ed. note: Argument against marijuana prohibition.)

A grow operation usually begins with a "mother" plant, from which samples can be cut to grow another "clone" plant, Simmonds says.

Cloning pot plants allows the grower to genetically engineer the amount of "bud" - which is eventually smoked - and the strength of the weed, he says.

Simmonds has heard claims from some dope growers that up to two pounds of bud can be harvested from a single plant. At top prices, the profit from one plant can run as high as $7,000, he says. (Ed. note: I have heard claims like that from some dope "reporters" as well.)

The locations for the operations are typically rural and spread throughout Alberta. RCMP have recently hit grow operations around Lamont, Vegreville, Two Hills, Grand Centre, Barrhead, Drayton Valley and Evansburg.