SEYMOUR ARM RESIDENTS ARRESTED IN MASSIVE DRUG RAID

face trial in B.C. Supreme Court

SEYMOUR ARM - A number of Seymour Arm residents charged with drug offences
after a massive raid on their Shuswap Lake community will face trial in B.C.
Supreme Court.

Lawyers representing the 15 accused agreed to send the case directly to B.C.
Supreme Court trial, avoiding a preliminary inquiry in Provincial Court.

Peter Jensen said the first of the trials could take as long as two months,
as there are more than 180 police officers involved in the investigation and
more than 4,500 pages of documents.

The defence will make no admissions of fact, Jensen told the judge,
requiring the federal Crown to prove all the relevant evidence.

A small army of RCMP officers -- about 100 in all -- swooped in on the town
and searched several houses and other buildings in early October 2004.

Police executed 28 search warrants involving 14 properties and 14 vehicles,
all within a four-kilometre radius. More than 5,000 marijuana plants were
seized.

The two-year police investigation grew out of complaints from residents
unhappy with the number of growing operations in the area. Some also
complained of violence, threats and intimidation. Police said more than half
the people living in the community were involved in growing marijuana.

No court dates have been set.