DRUG DEALER'S HOME FORFEITED

(CNS) -A former drug house, valued at over a quarter of a million
dollars, has been forfeited to the Crown following an RCMP investigation.

"This is the first 'crack shack' that has been forfeited through
offence-related property legislation in B.C.," an RCMP news release
said Tuesday.

The home was owned by Nicodemo Joseph Bruzzese, 52, of Kamloops. He
pleaded guilty last week to multiple counts of drug trafficking.

Police said an investigation into criminal activity at the home began
last summer.

Following "an undercover operation making multiple drug purchases,"
officers arrested Bruzzese and Domenico Antonio Di Giacomo, 46, also
of Kamloops.

"There is a lot to lose when you get involved in criminal activity
such as drug trafficking," said Insp. Wade Lymburner of B.C.'s
Federal Integrated Proceeds of Crime section. "In this case, a home
that had been passed down by Mr. Bruzzese's parents to him as an
inheritance has been forfeited."