Owners of a Courtenay home that was the subject of a drug-trafficking investigation will forfeit more than $230,000 in equity.
A search warrant was executed by Comox Valley RCMP at the Trumpeter Crescent home in January 2016, and officers seized 144 pounds of marijuana, $25,000 in cash, cellphones and marijuana-growing equipment.
Police referred the file to the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office in May 2016 for consideration of forfeiture, since the property was believed to be the proceeds or instrument of unlawful activity. The forfeiture proceedings concluded recently, resulting in the forfeiture of $230,000 of the property’s net equity and the $25,000 that was found.
If the property is used for more unlawful activity in the next five years, the entire site could be forfeited.
The money forfeited goes into combating crime and increasing public safety, said Insp. Mike Kurvers, the officer in charge of the Comox Valley RCMP.
He said this year, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General announced that 34 projects related to crime prevention are receiving $2.2 million in funding from the program.
