Province suing to seize $1.83-million Langley property
Credit to Author: Gordon Hoekstra| Date: Fri, 06 Dec 2019 00:58:22 +0000
The province is suing to have a $1.83-million Langley property forfeited, alleging it has been used to produce drugs and launder money.
In a B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office suit filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Oct. 29, named are a numbered company that owns the property, 0671262 B.C. Ltd., and Milan Pocuca, the company’s sole director and “controlling mind.”
Also named are A.D. Logging Ltd., Donna Lynn Ayres and Greyfriars Mortgage (2012) Ltd., all of whom hold mortgages on the property.
The defendants are also accused of possessing drugs for the purpose of trafficking and failure to declare taxable income.
The allegations have not been proven in court and no response has been filed by 0671262 B.C. Ltd., Pocuca or Greyfriars.
A.D. Logging and Ayres have denied any wrongdoing.
The threshold for proving a civil claim is lower than for a criminal conviction, a “balance of probabilities” as opposed to “beyond a reasonable doubt”.
The civil forfeiture office’s claim shows the RCMP responded on June 23, 2016 to a fire at the property.
“Members of both the RCMP and the Fire Department observed items consistent with a clandestine butane honey/hash oil laboratory at the real property,” according to the civil forfeiture claim filed in court.
Hash oil is a highly concentrated cannabis extract dissolved in petroleum-based solvent, for example, butane, according to Health Canada. It can have higher concentrations of THC, and it can be smoked, vaporized or eaten.
The RCMP obtained a search warrant for the property the day after the fire.
According to the court filing, police found 2.7 kg of butane honey oil; 4.6 litres of cannabis weed oil in pre-filled packages syringes; 505 grams of marijuana shatter; 41.8 kg of marijuana; five 50-pound canisters of carbon dioxide and sales orders for the same in Pocuca’s name; and 10 100-pound canisters of butane.
The civil forfeiture office’s claim stated that the property “has been the source of ongoing unlawful activity, including offences involving property, fraud, theft, violence and controlled substances.”
The mortgages held by the three defendants total $2.525 million, according to mortgage documents registered with the Land Title and Survey Authority of B.C.
Those include a $1.5-million mortgage taken out in 2016 held by A.D. Logging, a $675,000 mortgage by Greyfriars taken out in 2018, and a $350,000 mortgage by Ayres, also taken out in 2018.
There is also a $1.1375-million mortgage on the property held by the Bank of Montreal taken out in 2016. BMO is not listed as a defendant, and the claim says the bank did not participate in or know of the alleged unlawful activity.
In its response filed in B.C. Supreme Court, A.D. Logging said it denied each and every allegation in the civil forfeiture claim. “The defendant A.D. Logging has not participated in any unlawful activity associated with the real property,” said the company’s response.
A.D. Logging stated that if the property was used for the alleged activities, it had no knowledge of those purposes.
In her response, Ayres said she was an uninvolved interest holder.