CANADA: DRUG DEALERS LOSE $95K HOME

Proceeds-of-crime law helps Mounties get their house

The Mounties are proud owners of a log home in the rural Annapolis Valley.

Under federal proceeds-of-crime legislation, brothers Daniel and Todd Barnes
of Aylesford Lake have been forced to hand over the keys to their
180-square-metre home, and 10 hectares of surrounding land.

The pair pleaded guilty in Kentville provincial court last Friday to a
number of drug-related charges. As a condition of their guilty pleas, the
men admitted the property - assessed at $95,000 - was purchased with money
obtained through their elaborate drug operation.

Police also seized $35,000 in investments the pair made from drug revenues.

On Nov. 3, 1997, the RCMP seized an indoor marijuana operation consisting of
269 plants and more than 700 grams of dried product. Police say the
narcotics were grown in the garage basement.

This is the first time a Nova Scotia house has been seized under the
proceeds-of-crime law.

"It's a unique case in many ways," said New Minas RCMP Cpl. Dale Bogle. "In
this particular case, there wasn't a trial. It was more of a negotiation
process between the Crown and defence."

Daniel Barnes, 41, was sent to prison for two years. Todd Barnes was
sentenced to a six-month conditional sentence, to be served in his new
Greenwood residence.

Bogle said police received a tip about the family drug operation about a
year before laying drug charges.

"And then after everything was seized, we began the proceeds-of-crime
investigation," said Bogle.

The house, with a two-car garage, isn't "lavish." But the investigator said
it was clear that after analysing their income, the Barneses were living
beyond their means.

They claimed legitimate revenues from a "minor trades company," Bogle said.

The home is being rented, but Bogle said it will be vacant within a month.
Police will then sell the house, turning over the proceeds to the receiver
general of Canada.

Bogle said Revenue Canada will likely launch its own investigation to
determine if the Barneses have paid their fair share in taxes.