A judge has ordered $1.05 million from the sale of a Richmond farm property allegedly used for an illegal marijuana grow-op be turned over to the B.C. Director of Civil Forfeiture.
The forfeiture is the second most significant to date for the director, who launched two separate claims against property belonging to numerous individuals following a police investigation of alleged grow-ops with ties to the Hells Angels.
The director claimed on Jan. 20, 2021 in B.C. Supreme Court that 20291 Westminster Highway, which contains a small warehouse, was an instrument of crime after Delta police conducted what it called “Operation Big Smoke,” a multi-property raid in Richmond on Oct. 28, 2020.
Police said they found 5,553 cannabis plants, 331 kilograms of dried cannabis and two Harley Davidson motorcycles with Hells Angel “support stickers” at the property, which was owned by 1135429 BC Ltd., whose sole director is Colin Chonn, according to the claim.
The property was sold in 2021 with the funds being held by the court until its forfeiture last August, via a consent order between parties, according to court records.
Meanwhile, under the same consent order, the judge dismissed the director’s claim against a 2015 Dodge Ram 1500, Louis Vuitton bag, wallet and $5,348 seized by police from Chonn on Oct. 28, 2020.
Since the claim was made, some defendants, including Chonn, have claimed police violated their Charter rights.
Chonn denied all the allegations set out by the director, adding police questioned him before reading him his rights and attempted to illicit incriminatory information while breaching his right to silence and his right to counsel, according to his response filed by Surrey lawyer Chanpreet Kooner.
The Dodge, said Chonn, belonged to co-defendant Chan’s Nursery Ltd., located at 14611 Westminster Highway. The nursery is owned by Chonn’s elderly grandparents, who were initially named as co-defendants but later dismissed from the action.
Prior to the raid, police said they observed Chonn at 7480/7488 Sidaway Rd. in Richmond where they eventually found 11,152 cannabis plants and 300 kilograms of dried cannabis while executing a search warrant.
7480/7488 Sidaway Rd. is owned by Santokh Singh Kallu, who has also stated in response to the director’s claim, that the search of his property was conducted in violation of the Charter because it was executed unreasonably “including by use of excessive force and personnel, along with police seizing items going far beyond the scope permitted by any search authorization.”
The director’s claim noted two of Kallu’s sons and two others held medical marijuana licences for the property but for only 1,200 plants.
Police stated at the time of the raids that the grow-ops occurred under the guise of a medical marijuana arrangement.
Yadvinder Kallu, one of those sons, is a co-founder of Emerald Health Sciences, which was co-founded and directed by his cousin Avtar Dhillon, who has since been jailed for securities fraud.
Yadvinder Kallu is a convicted heroin trafficker, having served three years in a U.S. penitentiary starting in 1999. He is not named as a defendant in the director’s claim.
The claim against the Sidaway property is understood to be outstanding.
As for the Harleys, they were forfeited in July 2021. The bikes were registered to co-defendants Brook Nathan Hafiz, Christopher Brian Cornett, and Brian Joseph Whelan. The action against those three was discontinued.
Operation Big Smoke was conducted in conjunction with "Project Rolling Thunder," a multi-property raid in Delta in November 2020.
On Sep.25, 2023, 5282 Williams Ave. in Delta, with an appraised value of $2.133 million, was forfeited via a separate claim by the director.
Civil forfeiture claims are not criminal allegations. Rather, the government website notes, “to succeed in a forfeiture claim the director does not need to prove that you were convicted of a crime. The director must establish that the property in question is either proceeds or an instrument of unlawful activity, and will use the evidence gathered by the police in making its case.”
As for criminal charges against any individuals associated with the alleged grow-ops, Delta police spokesperson James Sandberg told Glacier Media criminal charges have been sworn; however, a publication ban is in place.
