Toronto Police see dramatic rise in grow operation busts

The number of marijuana grow operation busts by Toronto police has increased 77 % since 2008, documents show.

248 properties which Toronto police allege were current or former grow operations were found in 2010– mostly in neighbourhoods in the inner suburbs – which compares with 199 in 2009 and 140 in 2008.

A list of addresses was released by police earlier this year under access-to-information laws.

Does that mean there’s more grow operations or just more busts? It’s hard to say, cautions Detective Tyrone Hilton of the drug squad:

“Numbers can sometimes be proportionate to enforcement … Some of them are going to be a one-shot deal, and that’s all you get from it, while others may lead to further addresses being discovered. It’s sort of hit and miss.”

The data shows strong concentrations of grow ops in parts of the inner suburbs: Malvern, Agincourt, Jane-Finch, Weston, Mount Dennis and Smithfield, in northwest Etobicoke.

The pattern is generally similar to those seen over the past five years, but busts do move around – three in the St. Clair and Runnymede area were in an area where no grow ops had been seen in recent years.

“If you’re going to set up a marijuana grow op in a residence, to do it in the suburbs is a little better,” Hilton explains. “Bringing in materials, coming and going from the address – things are a little more discreet in the suburbs.”

Police did not release the number of plants found at each location. But “the overwhelming majority … are legitimate marijuana grow ops where there is mould, there are problems, and the health risks that are associated with a marijuana grow op.”

Large-scale marijuana growers try to conceal the fact they’re raising hundreds of big, demanding plants from neighbours and passersby, but it isn’t always possible. Snow doesn’t stay on the roof in winter because of the heat in the building and condensation builds up in the windows, which are often covered.

Attempts to keep the consumption of large amounts of electricity off Toronto Hydro’s radar can lead to dangerous rewiring to bypass the meter. Neighbours may notice odd effects on their own power supply. Also, the heavy, unmistakable smell – or clumsy attempts to conceal it – can be a giveaway.

Global Toronto reporter Ryan Sang visited some of the houses earlier this week and found that many are still empty and show evidence of tampered wiring.

“The houses themselves look like regular homes,” he says. “If you look really close, there are notices on the door, just saying that the house is now owned by a brokerage. The houses are generally abandoned still.”

“The meter readings are gone. It’s incredible. I didn’t know you could actually do that. It’s blank – there’s nothing in the circular meter. It’s just completely blank. It’s just like the device has been hollowed out. ”

Sang’s full report appears on News Hour on Global Toronto tonight at 6 p.m.