PROVINCE PURSUES SEIZURE OF POT HOUSES

If Successful, Proceeds Would Fight Crime

Manitoba's Criminal Property Forfeiture Act will be put to the test in
the coming months as the province heads to court to seize three houses
used as marijuana grow operations.

The province filed three statements of claim in court Thursday
alleging the people who owned the houses knew they were being used as
"instruments of unlawful activity."

"When the Winnipeg Police Service busted the grow operations, who they
caught were the growers, the people that were tending the grow inside
the homes," director of criminal property forfeiture Gord Schumacher
said.

"The homeowners, the people who purchased the places, were never
touched. This is where we come in."

The homes are in Royalwood in south Winnipeg and together are valued
at about $1.2 million:

- -- 4 Beaudry Bay, owned by Yan Qun Huang of Vancouver;

- -- 94 Beaudry Bay, owned by Guo Liang Deng of Vancouver;

- -- 31 Northport Bay, owned by Jin Qing Liu of Port Moody, B.C.

Schumacher said because it is a civil case, the burden to prove the
case is not as tough as in a criminal case.

"What we're saying is that the owners of these properties either knew
it was a grow-op or they were willfully blind to the fact that they
were grow-ops and as such their property should be forfeited," he said.

If successful, proceeds from the sale of the forfeited properties will
be placed in an account to compensate victims of crime, enhance the
practices and training of law enforcement agencies and put towards
programs to reduce or prevent crime.

Each of the properties was raided by police on Sept. 24, 2008.

In total, police seized $3.4 million worth of illegal plants from the
three homes. They also seized $85,000 in equipment used to grow the
pot. Six people were charged with a variety of drug-related offences.

Despite the book value of the houses, what they're really worth
remains to be seen because houses used to grow pot are often full of
mould and must be renovated.

Schumacher said the owners each have 40 days to file a statement of
defence. "In many cases they don't file," he said, citing the
experience in other provinces. "They just cut their losses and walk
away."

Tory justice critic Kelvin Goertzen said the law has been around for
six years, but never utilized until now. It was crafted to target
organized crime.

Goertzen said the act had to be rewritten to be more user-friendly.
"It took a number of years to get it right. "We've missed a lot of
opportunity."