COPS TAKE GOODIES, CROOKS FEEL THE PAIN

Just days ago, a police drug bust turned up the makings of an estimated
$100 million worth of crystal meth ingredients and $3.5 million in cash,
along with three Dodge Vipers and a Honda Shadow 750 motorcycle. A week
prior, an alleged drug dealer was given permission to pay his legal fees
using some of the $66,000 seized at the time of his arrest.

Criminal charges and court cases aside, developments like the
aforementioned should raise a common question among the more
material-minded members of the populace -- namely, just what happens to all
that stuff?

As RCMP Insp. Scott Kolody explained, it depends on the stuff.

Kolody, head of the Winnipeg Integrated Proceeds of Crime division, said
anything from cash to cars to out-of-country vacation homes can be seized
as part of a criminal investigation. He admitted investigators usually
target "higher-end" items because that's the best way to impede criminal
activity.

'HURTS THEM'

"That hurts them," Kolody said. "We're attempting to cripple a criminal
organization, and if we hit them financially, we can do some damage. It
greatly reduces their ability to conduct operations and carry on their
daily business."

Seized items are held as evidence until a conviction is secured in court
and can be held a little while longer after that, depending on whether an
appeal is filed or not.

Once the courts are through with the items -- and that process can take
years -- anything illegal, like drugs or weapons, is ordered destroyed.

Material goods, such as cars, electronics, or real estate, are typically
turned over to auction houses, where they're sold off at a much lower price
to everyday citizens looking for a bargain.

The proceeds of the sales -- along with any cash deemed an asset of crime
- -- are then turned over to the Receiver General for Canada.

Funds are redistributed back to provinces and municipalities depending on
their respective contributions.

"They're symbols of their status, and of their ties to illegal activity,"
Kolody said. "That's how they want people to look at them."