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### Viewing cable 05VANCOUVER1524, MARIJUANA FLOURISHES IN B.C. AS METHAMPHETAMINE CRISIS

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
05VANCOUVER1524 | 2005-12-05 19:07 | 2011-04-28 00:00 | UNCLASSIFIED | Consulate Vancouver

`

    This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

    051907Z Dec 05

` `

    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

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