Province seeks forfeiture of Sunshine Coast property allegedly linked to illicit cannabis grow-op

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The province is seeking to have forfeited a $711,000 rural property near Powell River allegedly linked to an illicit cannabis operation and money laundering.

In April of this year, the RCMP raided a five-acre property with a house at 2632 Maywood Road, just south of Powell River.

According to a claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court on June 7 by the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office, the police discovered illicit cannabis plants in six rooms in the house.

The forfeiture office seeks to have the property forfeited as “proceeds and instruments of unlawful activity.”

Among accusations listed in the forfeiture claim are possession, selling, cultivation and propagation of illicit cannabis; careless use of a firearm and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose; and failure to declare taxable income.

Named in the suit are Sixiao Chelsea Zhang, Wei Qi Le and Ja Yi Niu, also known as Jia Yi Niu.

Zhang and Le own the property, which was purchased in November 2020.

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“Some or all the funds used to acquire and/or maintain the real property and/or to acquire the grow operation equipment were proceeds of the unlawful activity and/or tax evasion in breach of the Income Tax Act,” says the forfeiture claim.

“By converting the proceeds of the unlawful activity into the real property and grow operation equipment, the real property and grow operation equipment was used by the defendants as instruments of unlawful activity, namely, the laundering of proceeds of crime,” adds the claim.

The defendants have not responded in court to the claim and none of them have been charged criminally in relation to activities outlined in the forfeiture claim, according to an online search of B.C. court records.

A criminal charge is not needed to launch a civil forfeiture claim. The threshold for proving a civil forfeiture claim is lower than for a criminal conviction, a balance of probabilities instead of beyond a reasonable doubt.

According to the forfeiture claim, on April 23 of this year, the Powell River RCMP observed an odour of vegetative cannabis, the loud sound of ventilation fans in operation and large commercial-size exhaust vent ducting coming out of the upper and main level of the house at the rural property.

The police learned from Health Canada there were no valid authorizations for the possession or production of cannabis at the property.

The RCMP obtained a search warrant and on April 29 located a cannabis grow operation with six grow rooms, 957 “illicit” cannabis plants, cannabis growing equipment, a sketchbook detailing the cannabis grow operation and three improperly stored firearms and two pellet guns.

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Four people were arrested at the property, including Le, Ja Niu, Jian Kang Niu and Wong Hung. Le is the mother of Ja Niu and Jian Kang Niu is the spouse of Le and the father of Ja Niu.

During the police raid of the property, Ja Niu provided the RCMP with authorizations to possess cannabis and produce medical cannabis that had been previously granted by Health Canada.

“The invalid authorizations were in Ja Niu’s and Sixiao Zhang’s names and authorized personal production of a lesser amount of medical cannabis on a property other than the real property,” according to the forfeiture claim.

ghoekstra@postmedia.com

twitter.com/gordon_hoekstra

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