CALGARY – There’s a new neighbor in the district. He and his friends keep to themselves. They pay cash for everything and want no receipts. They boarded up the windows of the old farmhouse they’re renting and the snow melted off the roof during below zero temperatures.
That new neighbor may be a different kind of grass farmer who’s earning far more from his crop than any hay field could produce.
“There’s a lot of money in the industry and it’s just too good for some people to pass up,” said Cpl. Harold Trupish of the RCMP drug section in Calgary.
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Trupish said hydroponic marijuana operations are moving out to rural areas where it’s quiet, rent is cheap and secrecy is almost guaranteed. Hydroponics is a system in which plants are grown in a nutrient-enriched watering system in controlled conditions like a greenhouse.
This system requires expensive equipment such as plastic sheeting, special plastic pipes, exhaust systems, generators and carbon dioxide. It’s costly, but when marijuana sells for $350 an ounce, the start-up costs pale in comparison to the potential profits.
A police raid on a Sibbald Flats operation in east-central Alberta revealed records saying it made $983,000 from the production of 100 seedlings. One hundred seedlings cost about $1,500 on the street.
They hide, you seek
Speaking at the recent Rural Crime Watch workshop in Calgary, Trupish told those attending that growers are creative and go to great lengths to hide what they’re doing. Neighbors should be on alert, he said.
Hydroponic growing systems are favored because the controlled atmosphere puts more buzz in modern marijuana. While some people have grown almost two-metre-tall plants in fields or in riverbeds, the grass grown outside isn’t as potent, said Trupish.
Marijuana grown with hydroponics can carry as much as 28 percent THC, the mood-altering chemical in marijuana. In the 1960s, most marijuana had a THC level of 0.1 percent. In addition to having more kick, a lot of today’s grass also has a higher street value.
Hydroponic operations can also be easily concealed. They have been found in basements, quonsets or old farmhouses.
One enterprising group built a hydroponic system under a new quonset. About 400 plants were discovered in an operation that cost about $40,000. Setting up underground cut the noise from the fans and generators needed for the greenhouse, said Trupish.
In another community with alkaline water not suited for plants, a drug-growing operation was uncovered when a person noticed extreme amounts of fresh water were being hauled in 500-gallon tanks to a site.
In another case, someone noticed a person buying a lot of coffee makers. Marijuana seeds and stems, along with rubbing alcohol, are blended to make marijuana oil in coffee makers. The machines plug up quickly, so replacements are required often.
“A guy went through four coffee makers in one year and yet he never complained about the coffee maker being faulty,” said Trupish.
He urged people to watch for activity that could indicate drug production:
- Unusual modifications to a vehicle. Dodge Ram trucks are favored for moving drugs because packages can be concealed in gas tanks and the truck still runs smoothly.
- A truck runs on unleaded fuel yet carries a propane fuel tank in the box. The tank may be used to carry money or drugs.
n Persons building a watering system in a building.
- Persons hauling away large amounts of plastic sheeting, fertilizer bags, plastic piping, plastic pots, empty CO2 tanks and fuel tanks.
- A skunky smell emanating from exhaust fans. Or heavy air freshener smells used to mask the odor of growing marijuana.
- Unusual electrical hookups and humming sounds coming from buildings.
