RICHMOND RAID SEIZES $1 MILLION WORTH OF POT

More than 24 RCMP officers Friday seized close to $1 million worth of
marijuana being grown in seven townhouse units at 11571 Thorpe Rd. in Richmond.

Police arrested 12 people -- seven men and five women -- who will
make a first appearance in court Monday, facing a variety of drug offences.

"The majority are rentals," Richmond RCMP Cpl. Peter Thiessen said of
the townhouse units. "These were just warehouses. They were all set
up strictly to grow marijuana."

Thiessen estimated the street value of the drugs was close to $1
million. "Another drug investigation led us here," he said.

Those arrested were directly linked to the units where the seizures
were made, he said, but they lived in Vancouver, Burnaby Coquitlam
and elsewhere in Richmond.

About two-thirds of the 1,800 plants seized were ready to harvest, he added.

Investigators were still trying to determine if those arrested owned
the units in the complex, he said. "They've made millions," he said,
noting the seven units were producing about $1 million worth of pot
every few months.

A new provincial law took effect Friday that will affect criminals
where it hurts most -- in the bank account. Under the Civil
Forfeiture Act, the province can apply to seize and sell assets
acquired through illegal activity.

"This law will help us take the profit out of organized crime and
other illegal activities, and will also let us help the victims of
those crimes," Solicitor-General John Les said in a statement released Friday.

The government has appointed Rob Kroeker as director of the civil
forfeiture program. He is a lawyer and former police officer who was
most recently responsible for B.C.'s Crystal Meth Secretariat.