Pubdate: Mon, 12 Jan 2004
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2004 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Lori Culbert
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

POLICE RAIDED GROW-OP ON BASI'S PROPERTY

Police raided a marijuana-growing operation at a rental house owned by
Dave Basi about two weeks ago, roughly the same time that officers
searched the former ministerial assistant's office at the legislature
as part of a drug and organized crime investigation.

Basi purchased the home at 3260 Shawnigan Lake Road in March for
$180,000, but his lawyer said it was rented to tenants and Basi did
not know about the marijuana plants inside.

"I can confirm that the police attended at Mr. Basi's rental property
in Shawnigan Lake in late December and apparently they found a
marijuana operation there, which was not known to Mr. Basi," lawyer
Chris Considine said on the weekend.

Considine said Basi, who was fired from his job as ministerial
assistant to Finance Minister Gary Collins one day after the
legislature raids, has not been questioned by police in connection
with the marijuana-growing operation.

Considine refused to comment on whether Basi knew the tenants or
checked often on his rental property, which is located in a rural area
not far from his Victoria home.

Neighbours said they saw no indication that anyone has lived in the
home for years. However, they noticed around Christmas that the
windows were covered in condensation -- a common occurrence when
steamy marijuana operations are conducted inside poorly ventilated
houses.

"My daughter walking her dog past, she said she noticed the house was
steamed up, but there was no smoke coming out of the fireplace," said
Vera Ferguson, who also lives on Shawnigan Lake Road.

Neighbours said on the weekend that the house was raided "a few
Sundays ago." The raid at the legislature occurred Dec. 28, two weeks
ago Sunday.

Ferguson said she has seen no sign of anyone living in the home since
it was sold in 2001. She said the 14-acre property was later
subdivided and resold in three pieces.

It appears Basi bought the house, and about five acres of land, in
March. The man he bought the property from did not return phone calls
Sunday.

"There's been nobody regularly living in there," Ferguson said. "I've
never seen a vehicle in there."

Basi and his wife Inderjit took out a $135,000 mortgage for the
Shawnigan Lake house in April, and have monthly mortgage payments of
$861.57.

Five months later, they bought a $279,900 house in Esquimalt, taking
out a $180,000 mortgage.

Dave Basi, Inderjit Basi, a civil servant, and his mother Sukhbir
Basi, a chambermaid, own a total of four Victoria-area houses valued
at more than $1.2 million.

Considine has said the properties carry mortgages, and that Basi rents
out the houses.

"As far as he knew, [the Shawnigan Lake house] was rented out,"
Considine said.

"He is in the same position of many [rental property] owners in this
province who have had the misfortune to learn that their premises have
been used as marijuana grow operations, including the former premier."

(In May, 1996, police found a marijuana-growing operation inside the
garage of a Surrey rental home owned by former premier Ujjal Dosanjh).

Considine declined to comment further on the growing operation at
Basi's property. He said he was choosing his words carefully, so that
he would not "in any way appear to breach the sealing order or, in the
alternative, to impede a police investigation."

Search warrants used in the case involving the legislature have been
sealed by the courts. Police have released few details about the
investigation, which lasted for 20 months and has links to organized
crime, illegal drugs, commercial crime and breach of trust.

On Dec. 28, police executed nine search warrants at seven premises,
including Basi's legislature office and his Victoria home.

They also searched the legislature office of Bob Virk, ministerial
assistant to Transportation Minister Judith Reid. Virk has been
suspended with pay.

Others searched or visited by police include people with high-level
ties to the provincial and/or federal Liberal parties. Basi and Virk
were also active members of the federal Liberal party.

The Sun has learned that at least one of the search warrants executed
at the legislature was directly linked to the drug portion of the
investigation.

Andy Orr, who speaks for Premier Gordon Campbell, did not return phone
calls Sunday to comment on the marijuana raid at Basi's rental house.

Sergeant John Ward, who speaks for the Mounties across B.C., said he
couldn't comment on the growing operation.

A Shawnigan Lake RCMP officer said on the weekend he knew little about
the raid on the house, but thought it was conducted by a RCMP drug
section in south Vancouver Island.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin