US embassy cable - 05VANCOUVER1524

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 VANCOUVER 001524 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEA OFFICIALS TOLD US THAT ORGANIZED CRIME IS BEHIND ALMOST ALL 
OF B.C.'S DRUG TRADE (SEE REFTEL).  WHILE ORGANIZED CRIME IN THE 
PROVINCE IS TRADITIONALLY DEFINED AS MOTORCYCLE AND ETHNIC 
GANGS, AN RCMP REPORT EXPLAINS THAT ETHNIC BARRIERS ARE 
DISSOLVING, MAKING WAY FOR HIGH LEVELS OF COOPERATION AMONG THE 
VARIOUS ORGANIZED CRIME GROUPS, WHICH SPECIALIZE IN SPECIFIC 
ASPECTS OF THE TRADE AND SHARE THEIR EARNINGS.  FOR EXAMPLE, 
VIETNAMESE GANGS GROW MARIJUANA, WHICH INDO-CANADIAN 
ORGANIZATIONS THEN TRANSPORT INTO THE UNITED STATES.  HELLS 
ANGELS OFTEN OVERSEE NETWORKS OF GROWERS AND HELP COORDINATE 
SMUGGLING RUNS INTO THE U.S.  CRIME RINGS USE MARIJUANA GROW-OPS 
TO FUND OTHER SERIOUS CRIMES-SUCH AS U.S.-AND-MEXICAN-BASED 
COCAINE TRAFFICKING INTO CANADA, WEAPONS IMPORTATION, AND THE 
MOVEMENT OF EPHEDRINE AND ECSTASY-THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE BEYOND 
THEIR REACH.  LESS INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON METHAMPHETAMINE 
LINKS TO ORGANIZED CRIME, BUT THE JUNE RCMP REPORT ATTRIBUTES 
MOST METHAMPHETAMINE AND OTHER CHEMICAL DRUGS TO HELLS ANGELS 
AND ASIAN-BASED ORGANIZATIONS. 
WHA/CAN; INL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CA, SNAR, PREL, ECIN 
SUBJECT: MARIJUANA FLOURISHES IN B.C. AS METHAMPHETAMINE CRISIS 
HEIGHTENS 
 
REF: VANCOUVER 1470 
 
1.  Summary:  The number of individual marijuana grow 
operations, or grow-ops, in British Columbia has leveled-off 
since 2000, but  they continue to increase in size and 
sophistication, according to a June 2005 RCMP report and a study 
by the University College of the Fraser Valley's Department of 
Criminology and Criminal Justice.  Law enforcement is becoming 
progressively less effective in stopping marijuana grow-op 
crimes in the province.  B.C. is a very large supplier of 
smuggled marijuana and ecstasy to the U.S., and crime groups 
have started using helicopters as a more secure way of transit 
across the border.  Methamphetamine is a major and growing 
source of concern in the province, and production has shifted 
away from the U.S. and more to B.C. where domestic demand for 
the drug is on the rise.  Organized crime groups are believed to 
be the main players in the drug trade, the profits for which 
they use to finance other crimes.  End Summary. 
 
New trends in marijuana grow-ops 
2.  British Columbia has the worst cultivation of marijuana 
problem in Canada, reporting almost three times the national 
average for grow-ops.  Although the number of grow-ops in B.C. 
has leveled-off since skyrocketing in the late 1990s, the size 
of grow-ops has increased dramatically.  Since 1997, there has 
been a 60% increase in the number of plants seized in grow-op 
raids, and the average quantity of harvested marijuana seized 
has tripled.  For example, in a number of recent raids, RCMP 
seized up to 15,000 plants.  This increase in size of grow-ops 
correlates with two other noticeable changes-a location shift 
from urban to rural and more sophisticated operations. 
 
3.  While the overall number of grow-ops uncovered in the Lower 
Mainland and Greater Victoria urban areas has decreased since 
2000, a shift from the cities to more rural areas is on the 
rise.  This shift from urban to rural areas has given marijuana 
growers opportunities to procure larger properties, allowing for 
greater production and less police and community detection. 
While three-fourths of grow-ops occur in homes or apartments, 
the recent shift has taken many operations out of the smaller 
urban homes into multimillion dollar suburban and rural houses, 
many of which are used solely for growing marijuana.  Public 
sources recounted some recent cases of drug lords owning 
mortgage companies and renting homes to known marijuana 
producers. 
 
4.   Marijuana grow operations have become more sophisticated 
than in past years.  More specialized equipment is used today 
than a few years ago.  For example, growers use high-voltage 
light bulbs more often and in greater quantities than they did 
in 1997.  In addition, growers are using more electric 
generators, and are coming up with more ways to steal and divert 
energy. 
 
Prosecution of marijuana growers is lacking 
5.  Even though the number of reported grow-ops has leveled-off, 
the criminal justice system is increasingly unwilling to 
prosecute growers caught in the act.  Each year fewer cases are 
being fully investigated, fewer offenders are charged and 
convicted, and sentences are more lenient.  In fact, 50% of 
marijuana seizures terminate in "no case," leaving the offender 
free to continue his/her crime.  The vast majority of 
individuals actually charged in grow-ops are convicted; however, 
only 16% of these offenders go to prison, with an average prison 
sentence of 4.9 months.  Conditional sentences and probation 
frequently take the place of prison time. 
 
Where all the marijuana goes 
6.  RCMP reports that B.C. produces much more marijuana than it 
actually uses.  RCMP believes that up to 95% of the province's 
marijuana is smuggled mostly into the western U.S., other 
Canadian provinces, the eastern United States., and Europe. 
Canada is the second-largest supplier of smuggled marijuana to 
the U.S., behind only Mexico, and most of the Canadian marijuana 
sent to the U.S. is from British Columbia. 
 
7.  According to a Vancouver Sun report and Consulate law 
enforcement staff, the use of helicopters to transport marijuana 
from Canada to the U.S. is a new trend. Criminal groups use drug 
money to buy used helicopters for as little as $100,000.  They 
generally hire a pilot to teach group members how to fly the 
helicopter, and pay a farmer near the border to store their 
helicopter.  Trafficking by air is faster and more secure than 
on land and even if air traffic control signals the pilot, 
police have no way to pull him over or verify his identity. 
 
The scourge of methamphetamine 
8.  Of increasing concern in B.C. is the significant increase in 
the availability and production of methamphetamine, particularly 
crystal meth.  Authorities are locating more and more "meth" 
labs in B.C., and in September, police responded to a "break and 
enter" 911 call and uncovered a lab containing $2.5 million 
worth of methamphetamine.  The lab was capable of producing more 
than twelve kilograms of the drug every 48 hours.  An RCMP 
report indicates that methamphetamine laboratories are expanding 
at an alarming rate. 
 
9.  Previously, Canada's methamphetamine supply came primarily 
from the U.S. (via Mexico); however, circumstances have shifted 
most major labs north into B.C.  In the U.S., restrictions on 
the sale of chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine force 
manufacturers to divert legitimate ephedrine from distributors 
and extract ephedrine from medication.  These difficulties, 
together with effective prosecution of methamphetamine producers 
and the relative lack of such deterrents in Canada, have slowed 
the expansion of most major labs in the U.S., and the smaller 
labs are unable to supply the Canadian demand, opening wide the 
way for large domestic "meth" labs, such as the one uncovered in 
September.  Most meth manufactured in BC is for domestic 
consumption.  DEA tells us that there is little evidence to show 
a trend in bulk shipments of meth going south.  However, that 
said, the precursors for making meth are routinely and 
legitimately sent south.  Canadian export restrictions for these 
precursors is lax, according to DEA staff stationed in 
Vancouver.  Also, the precursors for making ecstasy are imported 
from several different places and the finished product is then 
moved south into the U.S., mainly by Vietnamese crime groups. 
 
10.  The Province newspaper reports that in B.C. one can buy all 
the raw materials needed to produce methamphetamine for roughly 
$100 at almost any local drug store or hardware store.  Weak 
sentencing guidelines give police little incentive to 
investigate meth producers, and create little deterrent to 
manufacturers and dealers of the drug. 
 
11.  Senior officials in B.C. have begun to take the 
methamphetamine crisis seriously.  For example, Premier Gordon 
Campbell recently announced a $7 million increase in funding and 
several new initiatives to strengthen the province's fight 
against crystal meth, including funding campaigns against the 
drug in local communities, launching a public awareness 
campaign, and expanding treatment across the province.  He also 
pledged to continue working with the federal government to 
toughen sentencing for meth dealers and producers.  The RCMP 
recently asked the DEA for help fighting methamphetamine with 
training and expertise.  And the Minister for Public Safety and 
Solicitor General asked the Consul General to assist him in 
identifying and sending US experts to come to BC to speak out on 
the dangers of methamphetamine use and to provide advice on how 
to attack this growing drug problem. 
 
Links to organized crime 
12.  DEA officials told us that organized crime is behind almost 
all of B.C.'s drug trade (see reftel).  While organized crime in 
the province is traditionally defined as motorcycle and ethnic 
gangs, an RCMP report explains that ethnic barriers are 
dissolving, making way for high levels of cooperation among the 
various organized crime groups, which specialize in specific 
aspects of the trade and share their earnings.  For example, 
Vietnamese gangs grow marijuana, which Indo-Canadian 
organizations then transport into the United States.  Hells 
Angels often oversee networks of growers and help coordinate 
smuggling runs into the U.S.  Crime rings use marijuana grow-ops 
to fund other serious crimes-such as U.S.-and-Mexican-based 
cocaine trafficking into Canada, weapons importation, and the 
movement of ephedrine and Ecstasy-that would otherwise be beyond 
their reach.  Less information is available on methamphetamine 
links to organized crime, but the June RCMP report attributes 
most methamphetamine and other chemical drugs to Hells Angels 
and Asian-based organizations. 
LUKENS