In a civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court on June 1, the B.C. Forfeiture Office alleges the mortgaged property at 111 – 39012 Discovery Way in Squamish is the “proceeds and an instrument of unlawful activity.”
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The province is seeking forfeiture of a $519,000 Squamish commercial property allegedly linked to the illicit sale of cannabis.
In a civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court on June 1, the B.C. Forfeiture Office alleges the mortgaged property at 111 – 39012 Discovery Way in Squamish is the “proceeds and an instrument of unlawful activity.”
Named in the suit are numbered company 1123255 B.C. Ltd., VIDA Holistica Distribution Ltd. and Cara Elizabeth Long.
Long is the sole director and operating mind of the numbered company and VIDA Holistica, and the beneficial and true owner of the property, according to the forfeiture claim.
Last year, a provincial unit responsible for enforcement of unlicensed cannabis sales, seized more than $300,000 of packaged cannabis at the property, according to the forfeiture claim.
Among the unlawful activities listed in the forfeiture claim are possession for the purpose of trafficking and trafficking controlled substances; production, promotion, supply and sale of illicit cannabis; and money laundering.
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None of the defendants have a licence, directly or indirectly, to sell cannabis, according to the forfeiture claim.
“Some or all of the funds used to acquire and/or maintain the property were proceeds of the unlawful activity and or tax evasion in breach of the Income Tax Act,’’ says the claim.
“By converting the proceeds of the unlawful activity into the property, the property was used by the defendant as an instrument of unlawful activity, namely, the laundering of proceeds of crime,” says the claim.
Long and the companies have not responded in court to the civil suit.
Long has not been charged criminally in relation to the activities described in the civil claim, according to a search of online B.C. court records.
Criminal charges are not necessary to launch a civil forfeiture claim. The threshold for proving a civil forfeiture claim is lower than for a criminal conviction, a balance of probabilities instead of beyond a reasonable doubt.
According to the forfeiture claim, since at least 2013, Long and the companies have directly or indirectly sold, supplied, and/or distributed cannabis through an illicit online store, cannalifebotanicals.ca, of which Long is the beneficial owner and operator.
The Community Safety Unit, a provincial organization responsible for compliance and enforcement of cannabis sales, conducted an inspection of the Squamish property on June 7, 2020. The Squamish RCMP was also there to ensure public safety.
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On June 7, the safety unit seized cannabis packaged for sale with retail value of more than $300,000. None of the packaged cannabis was labelled as required by law, says the forfeiture suit.
The safety unit also seized records and documentation related to the illicit sale of the cannabis products, according the forfeiture claim.
On June 7, the RCMP also observed in “plain view” and seized 110 grams of dried psilocybin and 160 grams of liquid psilocybin.
The police also seized money, which was “not packaged or bundled” in accordance with ordinary banking practices: $11,500 Canadian currency, £1,510 British pounds and €820 euros.
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