FAMILY'S $1M ASSETS SEIZED

Police grabbed more than a million dollars in assets from a Welland
pharmacist and her brother, including four houses, a $10,000 Rolex watch, a
fancy sports car and more than $110,000 in cash. The cash included at least
$30,000 tightly wrapped in $5,000 bundles from Casino Niagara.

Police found six of the bundles in a pile of cash that included $108,000 in
Canadian and $2,400 in US funds at a house on Balsam Street in Welland.

The owners of the house, Helen Cymba, 51, and her brother Alexander Cymba,
30, are being held at the Niagara detention centre on drug trafficking charges.

Until a few months ago, they had operated Helen's Pharmacy at the Westgage
Medical Centre on West Main Street in Welland. Helen had been registered
with the Ontario College of Pharmacists since 1989 and is now under
suspension pending the outcome of a criminal investigation. According to a
neighbour, Alexander was studying pharmacy in Buffalo and speculating in
the Welland real estate market buying and selling houses.

They were denied bail when they appeared before a justice of the peace in
Welland last Friday. They face charges of possession of a controlled
substance for the purpose of trafficking and one count of breach of probation.

During a joint investigation with the RCMP, Niagara police seized a $76,000
Mercedes Benz, $300,000 from a numbered company registered to Alexander
Cymba and $20,000 from a retirement plan, as well as the watch and cash.

Police also seized the Balsam Street bungalow and three townhouses in
Welland under the proceeds of crime legislation.

Niagara Inspector Damien Parrent and RCMP Corporal Jamie Jagoe, of the
London Integrated Proceeds of Crime Unit, announced the seizures yesterday
at a press conference at police headquarters in St. Catharines.

Jagoe said police intend to prove the assets are the fruits of drug
trafficking. Under proceeds of crime legislation, the authorities will
have to maintain the assets until they can convince a court they are indeed
ill-gotten gain. If they are successful, Jagoe said, the assets will be
sold at auction. But if they fail, the assets go back to the owners. There
would be nothing to stop the brother and sister from returning to their
home if they are released on bail.

Parrent said the proceeds of the crime probe resulted from a drug
investigation earlier this year, when police seized about 59,000 pills with
a street value of about $465,000 from a Welland home.

They included large quantities of Tylenol 3, Ritalin, Dilaudid, Percocet,
and Fiorinal, which were sold on the street for five to $30 a pill and were
known as "Perks" and "Dillies."

Parrent said Niagara drug officers worked with inspectors from the Ontario
College of Pharmacists to follow drugs from a supplier to a Welland
drugstore. He told reporters the owners of the drugstore continued to order
large quantities of drugs after closing their doors to the public.

When reporters visited the Balsam Street home yesterday, Helen Cymba's
late-model Ford Expedition was parked in the driveway. Alexander's sports
car had already been towed away.

Robert McMahon, a neighbour, pointed out pill bottles strewn among the
garbage behind the Cymba home.

Until the criminal charges, he said the pair lived a pretty quiet life and
attracted little attention in the neighbourhood. He believed Alexander was
studying pharmacy in Buffalo, speculating in the real estate market, and
owned an interest in a retirement home.

He said Alexander was the flashier of the two and wore expensive jewellery.
McMahon said Alexander often came home late from gambling trips to Casino
Niagara in Niagara Falls.

Members of the casino security staff said Helen Cymba had an account at the
casino. They also confirmed the $5,000 bundles, which were signed and
dated, had been issued at the casino. They also said someone who won a big
jackpot might be issued money with casino wrappers on it. A spokesperson
said she was prohibited by privacy legislation from identifying big winners.