WAREHOUSE UNIT LINKED TO POT NETWORK

444 Pounds Of Marijuana And $440,000 Found After Police Tracked Truck's Route

An espresso machine repair company operating from a warehouse across
from the Port Moody police station appears to have been the hub of a
major marijuana distribution network.

The RCMP's Greater Vancouver drug section said this week
investigators had been tipped about a warehouse after a routine brake
check of a commercial truck in Kamloops turned up 250 pounds of pot
destined for Quebec.

Police tracked the truck's route back to a nondescript warehouse unit
at 3051 Spring St. in Port Moody, where they uncovered crates holding
444 pounds of marijuana and $440,000 cash.

The Vancouver Sun has learned that the commercial unit was leased by
a company called Espresso Works, owned by Stacey Timothy Taschereau.

According to corporate records, Taschereau, 31, started the coffee
machine repair company in November 2006. Nobody was answering the
phone Friday at Espresso Works, which is in the back of a building
with storefronts on St. Johns Street, across from the local cop shop.

Taschereau did not return phone calls to his Port Coquitlam home or
office, which has a sign on the door saying "By Appointment Only."

Staff Sgt. Dave Goddard, acting head of the B.C. District Drug
Section, said he couldn't confirm the name of the man arrested at the
warehouse Aug. 7, as he had not yet been charged.

Goddard said the operation appeared to have been sophisticated with a
commercial building linked to a transportation system.

"It is organized crime," Goddard said Friday. "This is a large-scale
commercial distribution network of marijuana and money being
exchanged between provinces, absolutely."

He said investigators were still looking at whether there are links
to a specific criminal organization.

The man arrested in the warehouse was not known to police, he said.
The Quebec trucker was also under investigation to see if he knew he
was carrying a large load of dope along with hot tubs in his tractor-trailer.

"We have to do some considerable background on him to see if we can
actually connect him to the load because it was a commercial trucking
outlet," Goddard said.

"As you can imagine, if it is a commercial trucking outfit and he
picks up at warehouse A and warehouse B and warehouse C, is he really
responsible or does he have a guilty mind about what is in the back?"

Greg Stevens manages the building containing the warehouse unit. He
only learned about the drug raid from a Vancouver Sun reporter Friday.

"You are kidding. I am absolutely dumbfounded," he said. "They
haven't contacted me or said boo to me."

He said Taschereau rented the unit about a year ago and appeared to a
straightforward businessman who fixed coffee machines.

"I have been in there to check on things and I haven't seen anything.
I haven't been in there in a few months, but I am absolutely
floored," Stevens said. "This comes as a complete shock to me because
I read about it. They said it was a major operation. ... I was
thinking, where the heck is it?"

Stevens said he intended to contact his tenant to see what is going on.

"He has always been such an upstanding guy, in all appearances
anyway," Stevens said. "I keep an eye on that stuff and I let the
tenants know I will pop in any time."

He said he knew Taschereau had a forklift and had been storing crates
full of "plastic pellets" for a friend.

Workers in the area saw plainclothes police milling around Aug. 7
before they moved in with guns drawn after a man arrived at the unit
that night. They had no idea what was going on.

Nima Ghoreishi, who builds kitchen cabinets in a neighbouring unit,
said Friday he had wondered what kind of businessman was operating
two doors down.

"He was always coming, washing his car and then going," Ghoreishi
said. "We were thinking it was kind of weird."

He was surprised to learn that no one was in jail despite what police
found in the building.

"Back in my country if something like that happened, a guy will be in
jail until the court says he is free," the Iranian native said.