COPS TO CROOKS: WE WANT YOUR STUFF

Law That Allows Government To Take Proceeds Of Crime Lauded

Yo gangsters, you may think you're living large but think again.

That's the message Vancouver police Chief Jim Chu and
Solicitor-General John van Dongen issued during a joint news
conference outside headquarters on Friday that lauded B.C.'s
two-year-old civil-forfeiture program as a huge success, having taken
away nearly $5 million in gangsta goodies.

"You may think you are living large," Chu said. "But we are going to
make sure you won't live that way for long. All the profits you make
off the misery of others -- the money, the cars, the houses -- will
be taken from you.

"The money you have extorted from others will be used to bring you
down. You will, in the end, pay for your own demise."

Van Dongen said the program has become self-sufficient in just 18
months -- about half the time Victoria thought it would take to pay for itself.

Since the program began in mid-2006, 166 cases have been referred to
the civil-forfeiture office by police, which resulted in 35 cases
settled out of court, said van Dongen.

"It's been two years of bad news for those who engage in breaking the
law and two years of good news for the rest of us," said van Dongen.
"We have yet to see a case go to full trial."

Alleged gangster Quy Phu Tran of Surrey found out about the program
the hard way.

The 19-year-old was driving his tricked-out white 1999 Mercedes Benz
CLK AMG in the downtown entertainment district last March when
members of the gang task force spotted him using a cellphone -- a
contravention of a court order.

Police pulled the Benz over and a search found a handgun allegedly
secreted in a hidden compartment.

Tran and passenger Steven Truong, 18, of Vancouver were each charged
with knowingly possessing a firearm without a licence, unauthorized
possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon, storage of a
firearm contrary to regulations and occupying a vehicle in which
there is a firearm.

Tran is also charged with two counts of breaching his release
conditions. The cases are still before the courts.

The car is now up for auction at www.bcauction.ca -- the highest bid
on Friday was $18,900.

Van Dongen conceded the program isn't perfect but it provides law
enforcement officials with another avenue besides criminal courts to
go after criminals.

The Nanaimo chapter of the Hells Angels was in court in Victoria last
week in a bid to regain its clubhouse, which was seized by the office
last December.

The hearing is slated to continue next week.

"We don't regard civil forfeiture as a magic answer," van Dongen
said. "It is just one tool."

The largest single forfeiture was a luxury north Burnaby house valued
at $1.31 million. It was allegedly bought with laundered
drug-trafficking proceeds.

Van Dongen said the program has paid out more than $1.1 million to
compensate crime victims and fund crime-prevention grants. About
$500,000 was paid out to 27 local projects.

Chu said he'll soon reveal the details of a major anti-gang
initiative paid for by the program.

Van Dongen said there are some areas where the program has hit some
roadblocks -- leased cars can't be seized and if gangsters are
driving their parents' ride the office must prove the relatives know
about the driver's criminal ties.