GROWER LOSES MORE THAN POT

A man convicted of cultivating marijuana paid the price when a Surrey
Provincial Court judge ordered forfeiture of tens of thousands of
dollars seized by police from his White Rock home.

White Rock RCMP Const. Steve Whiffen said Thursday the money,
$37,535, marks one of the largest cash seizures in the city's history.

"It's not a huge amount of money, but for us, it was one of our
biggest in terms of cash," Whiffen said.

It was seized by police from Vartan Dimoteos Chorbajian's Stevens St.
residence last April, along with two assault-style rifles, a handgun,
a home-made bomb, marijuana plants, and two kilograms of dried
marijuana.

Whiffen said discovery of the bomb reiterates concerns around the
increasing dangers of grow-operations to the police and public.

Police often come across trip-wires and other situations concocted to
stem interference with the illegal operations.

"These grow-ops now are getting more and more dangerous for
everybody," he said.

"It's not something new, but even here in little White Rock there is
a danger to the public and police - just the fact that these grow-ops
exist, and the measures these people are taking trying to prevent
people from interfering with their activities.

"It's something that kind of affects the whole community."

Whiffen said it's not clear if the bomb, a tube filled with gun
powder, was set up to be tripped. It was found on the second-floor
deck of Chorbajian's home, near a hot tub. Members of the RCMP
Explosives Disposal Unit were called in to deal with it.

Chorbajian's one-year conditional sentence included a weapons
prohibition, and order for 200 hours community service.