FAMILY STRUGGLES TO COPE AS DREAM HOME REVEALED TO BE GROW-OP NIGHTMARE

If living next to a marijuana operation isn't up your alley, imagine the
headache when you learn the suburban family home you just bought was once a
grow-op.

Bruce and Marcella Alexander were delighted when their offer of $347,000
for the Sons' attractive vinyl-siding home on a Langley cul-de-sac was
accepted in February. It seemed the ideal neighbourhood for their two
preschoolers.

It wasn't until the young couple had secured the financing and saw the
subjects removed on the agreement to buy the six-year-old home that they
got wind of its checkered past -- some of which was detailed in last week's
column.

Much to their dismay, they learned the RCMP had left their footprints at
the residence a few months earlier.

Phu Son, father of eight, wife Thi Huong and son Hoa Hong, 21, had been
nabbed with an estimated marijuana crop of 224 plants, harvesting about 19
kilograms of pot.

Sure enough, the entire block had had their suspicions, the couple found
out when they made the rounds of the neighbourhood, peppering residents
with questions. Vents in the home's roof had exhaled condensation 24/7.

Backing out of the deal seemed impossible, in light of the fact they
completed the sale just days before the industry voted to require owners
and sellers to disclose a property's drug history.

Amendments to the property disclosure statement approved by the B.C. Real
Estate Association board of directors now ask residential property owners
if they know whether the premises have ever been used to grow marijuana or
to manufacture illegal drugs.

Although the questions weren't on paper in time for their sale, Bruce and
Marcella managed, with the help of a good realtor, to pressure Son to
release them from the contract anyway.

Marcella said her kids' health was foremost on her mind. Heavy condensation
can leave mould and fungi spores in walls and carpets.

"It's a fluke we found out," Marcella told me last week.

"But there's no guarantee owners will disclose the information even now.
It's buyer beware. I tell everyone to check with the local police
detachment before buying a home."

Granted, a criminal who merrily violates our drugs laws isn't about to lose
sleep over the questions on a real-estate agreement.

As mentioned last week, Son has since pled guilty to farming a grow-op with
a street value of $100,000, while the federal crown stayed the other
charges facing him and his family.

Langley Const. Steve Fassbender said most operators cultivate three crops a
year, meaning the Sons may have been pocketing as much as $300,000 annually.

And yes, B.C.'s Ministry of Human Resources is investigating complaints
that 48-year-old Son -- who received welfare for himself, his wife and
eight kids for eight years -- may have done so illegally.

Minister Stan Hagan, in a recent letter to The Province, reported that
prevention, compliance and enforcement staff investigated 8,700 suspect
cases of welfare fraud last year, finding culpability in just under 10 per
cent (800) of them.

Penalties involved the impositions of sanctions such as fines or pay-back
orders, as well as the filing of 100 criminal charges.