DRUG DEALER LOSES $170,000 HOUSE TO CROWN

A Kingston woman busted for drugs twice in six months has lost a $170,000
home and has been sentenced to nine months in jail.

Meike Kaloudas, 33, came under scrutiny from the joint-forces Kingston-OPP
drug unit, the rural and agricultural crime unit and the OPP's proceeds of
crime unit, who suspected her income was derived from drugs.

In May, police obtained a warrant to search Kaloudas's Kingston residence.

OPP Det. Sgt. J.B. Corcoran of the proceeds of crime unit said officers
found and seized 120 grams of cocaine with a street value of $12,000, 10
grams of marijuana and 18 grams of hashish worth $560 and 43 grams of
methamphetamine worth roughly $3,400.

Police also found $711 in Canadian currency and $85 in U.S. currency - all
of which they consider drug money.

Kaloudas was charged with possession of controlled substances for the
purpose of trafficking.

Before she could be tried on that charge, police paid Kaloudas a visit
earlier this month at a different residence in Kingston.

There, they found more drugs, which resulted in a second charge of
possession of controlled substances for the purpose of trafficking.

That visit turned up 48 grams of hashish, 31 grams of marijuana, 20 tablets
of Dilaudid worth about $25 apiece and 11 grams of crushed oxycodan pills,
a painkiller often injected as a heroin substitute.

Corcoran said Kaloudas pleaded guilty to both charges and didn't challenge
the Crown's application to take her assets as proceeds of crime.

Mr. Justice Rommel Masse ordered that a new $170,000 home and a vacant
building lot she owns in the Gananoque area be forfeited to the federal
government.

SOLD AT AUCTION

Corcoran said the properties will be sold at auction and the money will go
into a national fund to pay for enforcement and treatment programs, such as
the Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (RIDE) program.

Kaloudas has two children. It is unknown what arrangements have been made
for them while their mother is in jail.

In order for the Crown to seize possessions or assets, Corcoran said his
unit has "to prove that an asset was derived directly or indirectly from
the commission of drug offences or other predicate offences."

He said his unit went back seven years in its investigation of Kaloudas.
Police determined that during that time she was neither employed nor on
social assistance.

"She's been the focus of police interest for a number of years now,"
Kingston Police Staff-Sgt. Brian Cookman said.

Corcoran said not everyone charged with possession of drugs for the purpose
of trafficking faces forfeiture of assets. The law doesn't provide a simple
rule for it.

"There's no benchmark for making seizures," Corcoran said.

Corcoran said police have made applications for possessions worth as little
as $1,000.