Pubdate: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 Source: Surrey Now (CN BC) Copyright: 2004 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc., A Canwest Company Contact: http://www.thenownewspaper.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1462 Author: Tom Zytaruk Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Property Seizure 'Unfair' To City Her Majesty has harvested herself a house in Chimney Heights, thanks to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. But the city, which paid for most of the policing, won't get a crumb. "It's incredibly unfair, obviously," said Surrey Coun. Gary Tymoschuk, chairman of the city's public safety committee. Money from the sale of the house, assessed at $327,000, will go first to the federal government - a.k.a. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada - as offence-related property. The federal government may then in turn give the province some cash. City hall, meanwhile, picks up the tab, paying 90 cents on every dollar of policing costs here. The house, at 14672-75th Ave., belonged to Huu Ro Le, who was sentenced to three months in jail and ordered to forfeit his house to the Crown this Wednesday after he was convicted of growing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. In March last year a police raid turned up 805 pot plants as well as growing equipment in the basement of the house. A B.C. Supreme Court judge then made an order preventing the sale, transfer of title or registration of any new mortgages or encumbrance on the property until the charges were dealt with in court. But in late December, an RCMP drug cop noticed an unusual snow melt pattern on the roof of the house, raising suspicions that a second grow-op was under way there. A second raid this past January revealed a 175-plant grow-op in the basement. Surrey RCMP Cpl. Tim Shields said this is the fourth time the drug section saw to it that property was forfeited in Surrey. So far, 18 properties have been restrained by the courts. Last year, the city of Surrey charged property owners $384,148 to recover costs of police, fire and city resources related to 221 grow-ops. More than 55,000 marijuana plants were seized and destroyed. Broken down, that would be 2.5 joints for every B.C. resident. Police armed with search warrants raided more than 160 grow-ops in Surrey and arrested 153 people. Of the 160 houses searched, children were found inside 23 of them. Also, 60 of the 160 houses searched had hydro bypasses. Most grow-op busts come from tips from the public. But last year, 12 were discovered because of a fire, five were revealed as a result of landlords or real estate agents checking on tenants, four were discovered by police responding to an alarm or report of a break-in, two were discovered after police followed up on 911 hang-ups, one was busted following a loud party, and another was discovered because of a traffic crash. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager