Government wants alleged traffickers' home, car, jewelry and cash
Credit to Author: Kim Bolan| Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 22:20:45 +0000
Officers with B.C.’s anti-gang agency watched Burnaby resident Thomas Borden and his wife Vicky Wang for months this year in a major drug trafficking investigation.
They never appeared to go to work, but Borden would regularly take large amounts of cash to deposit in various banks accounts.
And he would meet “unknown individuals” to make what looked a lot like illicit drug transactions.
When their condo was raided on Aug. 29, police found an untraceable loaded semi-automatic handgun, an AR-15 assault rifle with 100 rounds of ammunition, score sheets for drugs, multiple cellphones and a cash-counting machine.
They also found receipts for “high-end stores,” documents showing the purchase of a brand new RV for almost $50,000, and a 2019 application for “a Vancouver private school” as well as lots of expensive jewelry including a diamond-encrusted ring with “888” on it.
Borden has not yet been charged, but the director of civil forfeiture has filed a lawsuit against him, his wife, his stepfather John Canning and his mother Vera Canning to get a condo, cash, jewelry, a Jaguar and two other vehicles forfeited.
“Between January and August 2019, the Combined Forces Special Investigation Unit conducted an investigation into the drug trafficking activities of Mr. Borden and Mr. Canning. Mr. Borden and Mr. Canning were observed via surveillance on various dates conducting short duration meetings consistent with drug trafficking with unknown individuals,” the director’s lawsuit says.
“During the investigation, Mr. Borden, Ms. Wang, Mr. Canning and Mrs. Canning were not observed attending legitimate employment. Mr. Borden was observed attending banks … and depositing large sums of cash.”
The suit said investigators searched items from Canning’s trash and on April 24 found a plastic bag with cocaine residue. On May 8, they seized white latex gloves that also had cocaine on them. On July 3, they collected a yellow envelope with cocaine residue on it and white latex gloves with amphetamine residue.
Both men were arrested on Aug. 29, the suit says.
Police then executed a search warrant at the Burnaby condo Borden and Wang share, as well as at the Cannings’ Surrey house. And they searched two Jaguars owned by Borden.
Borden had a black safe containing more than $25,000 in it “bundled with elastic bands … and not packaged consistent with banking standards.”
They also seized a “spreadsheet documenting marijuana grow operation costs and expenses, equipment, crop cycles and profits for 244 plants.”
Borden bought the 2019 travel trailer on June 8 with a certified cheque to Meridian RV for $46,724.16, the civil claim says.
A handgun was located in an unlocked dresser drawer.
The Cannings’ home on 154th Street was also searched. Inside, police found 700 grams of cocaine, as well as 5.5 kilograms of a cutting agent for cocaine. There were scales like those used in drug trafficking as well as sealing equipment.
Police also found another “888” diamond-encrusted ring.
Inside a 2016 Jaguar, police located a kilogram of cocaine in yellow wrapping and a sealed bag of heroin. “Kark 1030” was written on the cocaine.
Police also seized items from Borden’s 2019 Jaguar F-Pace — a Rolex in the centre console and $1,740 inside a Gucci bag.
The civil forfeiture director says in court documents that the property, vehicles and money “have been used by the defendants to engage in unlawful activities … that were likely to cause serious bodily harm.”
Borden and Canning are involved in trafficking, possession of illegal firearms, failure to declare taxable income and laundering the proceeds of crime, the director alleged.
None of the parties named have yet filed a statement of defence in the case.
CFSEU said the criminal investigation is continuing.
Borden and Wang bought their Victory Street condo in Burnaby for $550,000 in November 2017, land title records show. On the document, Borden’s profession is listed as machinist, while Wang is listed as a preschool teacher.