DRUG BUNKER HOMES ARE REPAIRED

One of three raided homes has already been sold while another is
offered for rent

Two of three neighbouring Nanaimo properties vacated earlier this year
after a massive police raid uncovered drugs have finished a
remediation process.

The three Terminal Avenue North properties were part of five homes
Nanaimo RCMP simultaneously swarmed in one day in connection with
marijuana growing-operations.

One property, at 679 Terminal Ave. N., hid underground bunkers housing
thousands of pot plants.

It is the only Terminal property not finished the remediation process,
according to city building inspection supervisor Ralph Topliffe,
although the people involved are co-operating. All three properties
have obtained building permits as required.

The remediation process includes an environmental assessment, an air
quality test and inspections by city officials to ensure the building
meets safety and building code standards. The two other homes finished
that process last month.

One of the homes has already sold and is available for rent. The
three-bedroom home, which includes a newer addition to the back of the
house, is for rent in the $1,500 per month range. The home housed a
small grow-op but it has been brought to compliance. City officials
say many past grow-op properties go up for sale shortly after although
some buildings have sat vacant for years.

Police in January called the drug bunker operation sophisticated and
uncommon.

The permit for that property was for a custom workshop and there was
no indication of anything being built below ground. Police sources say
a trap door in the shop led to one bunker. A second bunker was found
on the same property, accessed through a trap door in the bathroom
floor of an older building.

City officials suspected an excavator was used to dig the underground
space before a concrete slab was poured prior to a final inspection
late last year. Officials will need to remove the slab as part of the
remediation process.

The bunkers are said to have floors, walls and ceilings made
completely of wood.

City officials expect remediation of the final property to be
completed in several weeks.