Latest news with #CivilForfeitureOffice
Hamilton Spectator
3 days ago
- Hamilton Spectator
$90K granted to projects in Williams Lake to enhance public safety
B.C.'s Civil Forfeiture Office is granting $90,000 towards projects in Williams Lake which aim to prevent crime and domestic violence. The province announced on Thursday, June 5 a total of $7.5 million in grants to go towards initiatives across the province expected to help with crime prevention, healing and public safety. In Williams Lake, grants will fund projects proposed by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Williams Lake (BBBS), the Cariboo-Chilcotin Partners for Literacy Society (CCPL) and the Canadian Mental Health Association Cariboo Chilcotin (CMHA). The first two organizations are receiving grants through the crime prevention stream of funding, the latter through the domestic violence prevention/intervention stream. 'Community safety is one of our top priorities,' said Garry Begg, minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. 'A key part of that is ensuring organizations working in our communities have the resources they need to effect change.' $40,000 will fund the BBBS' In-School Mentoring Program which provides stable, supportive relationships for early adolescents to help prevent antisocial and gang related behaviours. $17,000 will go towards the CCPL's Just-in-Time Tutoring for Youth at Risk project which will offers one-on-one or small group after-school tutoring with the goal of supporting high risk youth to successfully complete high school. $33,000 will fund the CMHA's 'Become the Change' project. 'This project will deliver a voluntary program for individuals 18+ at low to moderate risk of or who have perpetrated domestic violence, promoting awareness, changes harmful behaviours, teaches healthy boundaries, fosters support, and enhances community responsiveness to domestic violence.' These three projects are among a total of 166 community-led projects in B.C. to be granted funding in the Civil Forfeiture Office 's 2024-2025 round of grants. Along with the prevention of crime and domestic violence, the Civil Forfeiture Grants are going towards initiatives focused on child and youth advocacy, gender-based violence, Indigenous healing and restorative justice. 'Whether it's helping youth, preventing gender-based violence or supporting Indigenous healing, these investments are empowering communities to implement community-based initiatives that enhance safety,' said Begg. Another 118 projects in B.C. are receiving funding through a one-time grant, amounting to a total of $900,000 to support specialized police equipment and training. A full list of recipients can be found on B.C.'s Community Crime Prevention webpage . If you are the victim of a crime, Victim Services can help you navigate supports available to you. Call the toll-free, 24/7, confidential service line VictimLinkBC at 1-800-563-0808 or or email VictimLinkBC@ for assistance. Learn more by visiting B.C.'s Victim Help and Support webpage . Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
CBC
21-02-2025
- CBC
Province trying to seize property used to build drug superlab in rural B.C.
Social Sharing British Columbia's Civil Forfeiture Office is trying to seize a rural B.C. property that housed what police called the "largest, most sophisticated drug superlab in Canada." The civil forfeiture office was created to ensure that people in B.C. don't profit from unlawful activity. A notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court alleges that the owner of the Falkland, B.C. property "knew or should have known" about the activity happening on his land and if he didn't, says he was "willfully blind or reckless to the manner in which the property was used and is likely to be used in the future" and seeks to take control of the land. Falkland is an unincorporated community about 50 kilometres east of Kamloops, B.C. WATCH | What was inside the drug superlab? Inside the 'most sophisticated' drug lab in Canadian history | About That 3 months ago Duration 10:31 Police in British Columbia say they've dismantled the 'largest, most sophisticated drug superlab' in Canadian history, confiscating 89 guns and hundreds of kilograms of drugs. Andrew Chang breaks down information from the RCMP and drug manufacturing experts about what makes this lab so sophisticated and how far-reaching this criminal network might be. In his response, property owner Michael Driehuyzen denies any knowledge or responsibility for wrongdoing and instead places the blame on "his tenant or his tenant's agents." The forfeiture office also named Gaganpreet Singh Randhawa as a defendant in the case. Randhawa was the sole person arrested in the aftermath of the superlab's discovery and dismantling. His response to the civil claim has not yet been filed. Online court records show Randhawa is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 21 in Surrey, B.C. He is facing several criminal drugs and weapons charges for alleged offences in Surrey and Richmond, B.C. 'Sophisticated clandestine laboratory' According to police, the lab was discovered by federal investigators focused on combating illicit drug production in Canada. When announcing the raid in October 2024, police said the lab was believed to be run by a "transnational organized crime group... involved in the mass-production, and distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamine across Canada, and internationally." Police said they seized fentanyl, supplies and precursor materials that would have amounted to more than 95,500,000 potentially lethal doses and worth an estimated $485 million in profit from the property. In the civil court documents, B.C.'s Civil Forfeiture Office describes the property as the site of "a large sophisticated laboratory producing, and capable of producing, large quantities of controlled substances including fentanyl, methamphetamine and... MDMA." Also on the property, it says, were 52 kilograms of fentanyl, 30 kilograms of MDMA, "several tonnes" of precursor chemicals used for making illegal drugs, "a sophisticated system of security cameras hidden throughout the property" and other equipment including a 500 kilowatt generator and a mass spectrometer, which can be used to analyze pharmaceutical-grade drugs. Further, the claim states that the property had in 2015 and 2016 been searched by police as the site of an illegal cannabis grow operation and that Driehuyzen was also the owner of the property at that time. However, Driehuyzen's response to the lawsuit says that he purchased the property using the money he makes as an electrician and that "no portion of the property represents proceeds of crime."
CBC
07-02-2025
- CBC
B.C. judge tosses drug evidence over 'numerous and flagrant' violations of accused's Charter rights
The B.C. Supreme Court has found Mounties in Vernon, B.C., committed "numerous and flagrant breaches" of an accused drug dealer's Charter rights, using a hit-and-run investigation as a "ruse" to ensnare him for trafficking. The court issued separate rulings on evidence collected against Nabil Abdelkader in 2020, a man who had no criminal record and had never been arrested, but police believed he was involved in drug trafficking and was "untouchable." The rulings arose from a defence application to exclude the evidence unlawfully seized from Abdelkader's vehicle. In March 2020, a Jeep owned by Abdelkader hit a cyclist in a Vernon parking lot, and two passengers got out and assaulted the rider after he was struck, the rulings say. The driver and the attackers were never identified, but after Abdelkader's name came up as police looked into the hit-and-run and assault, the court found Vernon RCMP drug investigators took up the case "even though it was 'typically' outside of the mandate of the drug unit, solely because of the involvement of Mr. Abdelkader's vehicle." The rulings say police seized the vehicle from Abdelkader's garage and referred it to B.C.'s Civil Forfeiture Office for possible seizure if police couldn't lay criminal charges. 'Unsupported' civil forfeiture claim to seize vehicle Initial searches of the vehicle found no drugs, the rulings say, but police worked with B.C.'s Civil Forfeiture Office to keep it, and the court found civil forfeiture officials filed an "unsupportable" claim to seize the vehicle. Justice Palbinder Kaur Shergill found police colluded with civil forfeiture authorities to "bypass" due process obligations to avoid giving back the Jeep, which contained a hidden aftermarket compartment where police found vacuum-sealed packages of narcotics. Mounties hadn't obtained a search warrant to remove the compartment or its "hidden" contents when they searched it in October 2020, months after concluding the hit-and-run investigation that didn't result in any charges, the rulings say. "The RCMP did not even bother seeking judicial authorization for the October search because they knew their efforts would be rejected," the ruling says, recounting the testimony of a Vernon RCMP officer. The judge found police actions "intrusive" and ruled the hidden compartment was Abdelkader's "private space — a locked compartment in which a reasonable person would ordinarily expect the utmost privacy." Crown prosecutors argued the search was justified for public safety reasons, but there are "significant inconsistencies in the officers' testimony, which have led me to conclude that the public safety justification here was far-fetched and after-the-fact," Shergill wrote. "Launching a drug investigation under the guise of investigating a hit and run goes far outside the scope of what the community would see as decent and fair," the judge ruled. "No matter how violent and horrific the crime, or suspected crime, the ends do not justify the means." Shergill found "clear evidence of the institutional effort by the police to circumvent" Abdelkader's rights as they made moves with civil forfeiture officials to keep the Jeep. The court found police demonstrated a "pattern of disregard" for Abdelkader's Charter rights throughout the investigation. "The RCMP worked with the [Civil Forfeiture Office] in a co-ordinated and intentional effort to undermine Mr. Abdelkader's due process rights," the judge ruled. "This conduct was extremely troubling and driven by 'personal' and 'improper" motives." Abdelkader was arrested in January 2022, the rulings say, and charged with two counts of possession of cocaine and methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking. The court found police named him in a news release after his arrest, causing "significant impact' on him since he lives in a small community. Shergill found police "committed numerous and flagrant breaches" of the man's Charter rights and an "abuse of process" during the investigation and excluded the evidence found in the secret compartment of his Jeep. "If the evidence is included, it will send a clear message that so long as the police are motivated by their desire to catch the 'bad dudes,' they have free rein to violate well-established principles of law in an orchestrated and systemic fashion, and by eliciting the assistance of other government agencies to circumvent the accused's legal rights," Shergill ruled in a decision dated Feb. 4. Abdelkader's lawyer, Tony Paisana, said the court's findings in the case are "significant and unusual," and his client is trying to put the years-long legal ordeal behind him. "He's just relieved to move on with his life at this point," Paisana said. The federal Public Prosecution Service of Canada said it is "currently reviewing the court's decision and has 30 days to consider whether an appeal is in the public interest."
