MARIJUANA GROWER DEPORTED

Man Connected To More Than A Dozen Grow Ops

Authorities have deported a man convicted for his role in a network of
more than a dozen Calgary-area marijuana grow ops.

Canada Border Services Agency officers handed over Lai Guan Tan, 34,
to foreign officials last week.

Although agency officials didn't disclose Tan's destination, documents
list him as a Malaysian national.

Police arrested Tan in March as part of a seven-month undercover
investigation that found grow ops in more than a dozen homes in
Calgary, Irricana and Balzac.

Investigators described it as a "high-level distribution network"
selling drugs in Canada and the U.S. On June 5, Tan was convicted of
stealing electricity. The Crown stayed charges of production of
marijuana and possession for the purposes of trafficking.

Tan was given credit for three days served in pretrial custody and
given an additional day in jail, but by that time the sentence was
moot -- immigration officials had taken custody of him in April and
were preparing to deport him.

At that time, authorities couldn't even establish Tan's true identity:
at the time of his arrest, he had been living in Canada under the name
Le Chun Hing for six years.

An immigration adjudicator heard evidence at a detention hearing on
April 20 that Tan obtained an Ontario driver's licence bearing the
false identity before even entering Canada and then used it to get an
Alberta licence when he moved to this province.

Beyond that, however, authorities could find no other records bearing
either identity.

"Mr. Tan has no social insurance number under any of his assumed names
and the minister has concerns with regards to his employment and
survival in Canada. Was this through illegal employment? Was this
through illegal activities? No one can say for certain," government
lawyer Dan Davidson told the adjudicator.

Although Tan was initially detained because immigration officials
couldn't establish his identity, his deportation was ultimately
ordered because he had remained in Canada illegally after his
six-month visitor's visa expired.

Adjudicator Paul Kyba ordered that Tan would remain in custody until
his deportation last Friday because of the likelihood he would
disappear if released.

"It is my opinion you are quite adept and willing to use false
identity documents for whatever purpose you set out to achieve. You
have been in Canada for some six years without regularizing your
status after your visitor's authorization would have expired," Kyba
said.