POLICE UNDERCOVER OPERATION RESULTS IN POT CHARGES, HOUSE SEIZURES

Sophisticated Marijuana 'Transfer Houses' On Vancouver's East Side
Were Used By Organized Crime And Operated Like 'Grain Elevators'

A lengthy Vancouver police undercover operation has led to a series of
charges and the seizure of two marijuana "transfer houses" used by
organized crime.

VPD Insp. Brad Desmarais said the houses on Renfrew and Knight streets
were operated just like "grain elevators," where a variety of
underworld pot producers took their dope to have it distributed to
buyers in other provinces and the U.S.

Over the course of the investigation -- dubbed Project Trapdoor --
police surveillance saw 70 different cars arrive at just one of the
houses. Many of the vehicles were associated with gangsters and others
known to police.

Desmarais said by targeting the "transfer houses" and not just
traditional marijuana-growing operations, police are disrupting the
crime groups higher up the food chain.

"It is also important to understand that the commercial marijuana
producer is not the sole participant in this industry. There are
persons who run staging areas, sometimes referred to as transfer
houses, and there are transportation managers and, finally, there are
distributors. All of these folks take a piece of this very lucrative
pie," Desmarais told a news conference.

Husband and wife Van Ngan Ngan Nguyen, 45, and Thi Thuy Nguyen, 41,
were each charged with one count of possession for the purpose of
trafficking, as were Ping Ting Chen, 25, and Zhi Hua Zhao, 34. Zhao
was also charged with trafficking. Also seized for civil forfeiture
proceedings were the houses in the 3200-block of Renfrew and
4800-block of Knight and two vehicles. Police also netted $79,000 Cdn
and $40,000 US, much of which was stacked in piles on a table at the
news conference.

Sgt. Neil Munro said Project Trapdoor started last August and spanned
several months. He said the B.C. marijuana trade has increased in
sophistication over the years.

"Transfer houses play an integral part of the business. You can liken
a transfer house to a grain elevator. Growers bring their product
there to be graded," Munro said. "They receive payment for it and
arrangements are made to transport the product to the local, national
and international markets."

The criminal gangs that use the houses exercise extreme caution, not
only worried about police, but about rivals sending designated crews
out to steal marijuana and cash. For that reason, the houses usually
only keep enough pot on site to fulfil daily orders, Desmarais said.

Munro said the police raided the houses with search warrants April 2,
when they saw a man and a woman transferring bags of marijuana between
the houses. "These bags were then loaded into vehicles for further
distribution," Munro said.

The same day, a woman associated with the Renfrew house was seen
loading a duffel bag into her car. Her two kids, aged five and 12,
were with her.

"After dropping the older child off at school, she proceeded to the
2700-block of East 16th Avenue, where she was arrested while handing
off the duffel bag full of marijuana to another man. This took place
while her five-year-old was waiting in the car a few feet away," Munro
said. "Both of these children and an older sibling were turned over to
the care of the Ministry of Children and Family Development for their
safekeeping."

Desmarais said Vancouver police are finding larger, more sophisticated
"factory grows" in the city. "For the owners of these grows, it is all
about creating an easy, untaxed, very lucrative income stream from the
production of marijuana," he said.

He said civil forfeiture has become a critical tool in B.C. to tackle
organized crime in cases where laying criminal charges is difficult.

"In our opinion, the B.C. Civil Forfeiture legislation is probably the
most robust and effective civil forfeiture legislation in the
country," he said. "Our goal though all of this -- primarily -- is to
remove the profit motive of these large-scale commercial marijuana
producers."