NANAIMO MAN LOSES HOUSE USED AS A GROW-OP

A Nanaimo man's attempt to overturn the forfeiture of the house he
used to run a sophisticated marijuana grow-op has failed.

Cuc Van Bui and his wife, Thu Thi Tran, were convicted of production
of marijuana, possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking
and theft of electricity following a police raid of the Montgomery Way
house in September 2003.

At the time, the pair were living in the house with their four
children.

Police found Bui and Tran in the crawl space tending a 625-plant
grow-op.

The crawl space, which was accessed through a trap door in a closet in
the master bedroom, was divided into three separate rooms, each
devoted to a different stage in the cultivation of marijuana plants.

The operation included a sophisticated ventilation system and a bypass
to facilitate the theft of electricity and potential annual revenue
was estimated at between $587,000 and $991,000, court records indicate.

During the search, police seized more than $6,000 cash from various
locations.

The couple each received a 12-month conditional sentence and Bui later
paid B.C. Hydro $14,000 for the stolen electricity.

The Crown's application for an order forfeiting Bui's entire interest
in the property was successful after a hearing in November 2005.

Bui appealed the forfeiture, claiming it would deprive two of his
children of their primary residence.

Bui bought the property in 2001. The general contractor testified the
crawl space was made five feet high and fully insulated at Bui's request.

After the property was searched, Bui's four children remained in
Nanaimo schools until June 2004. In September 2004, three were
enrolled at schools in Maple Ridge, where they remained until April
2005, when they returned to the schools previously attended in
Nanaimo. By June 2005, two of the children had graduated.

In a written decision, B.C. Court of Appeal Justice David Frankel
noted that the house was not the principal residence of the children
in the 28.5-month period between when the charges were laid and the
forfeiture.

He also noted there was no evidence about what was happening during
the time the children were living elsewhere or why the family moved
back into the house.

"It is entirely possible, as the Crown argues, that Mr. Bui brought
his children back to Nanaimo just prior to the original date set for
the forfeiture hearing only for the purpose of being able to shield
the property from forfeiture," wrote Frankel.

The ruling also states that full forfeiture of the property was not
disproportionate to the criminal activity, as the house was
specifically built to house a sophisticated, large-scale grow-op,
which put Bui's children at risk of exposure to toxic mould,
electrical fires and home invasions.

Justice Richard Low and Justice Risa Levine concurred with Frankel's
findings.