Man convicted of possessing 13 kg of cocaine at drug lab

A man who was arrested at a Richmond apartment containing 13 kilograms of cocaine and being used as a clandestine drug lab has been convicted of possessing the drugs for the purpose of trafficking.

On July 14, 2015, RCMP took Yen Shi Albert Tio into custody after he showed up at the apartment building at 6133 Buswell St.

Police executed a search warrant and found 13 kilograms of cocaine in the forms of loose powder, brick and crack cocaine in one of the building’s upper floor suites.

The drugs included two bricks of cocaine stamped with a Rolex brand with a purity of 84 per cent and two bricks stamped with an Adidas brand with a purity of 68 per cent and 77 per cent each.

Police also found chemicals and other substances used to cut cocaine or process powder cocaine into crack cocaine and equipment including mixing bowls, a blender, ventilating equipment and scales.

The suite was deemed unlivable. It had no bed and the bedroom held two tents, one ventilating to pipes out the window, with drying racks and a hydraulic press fitted to press kilo-sized bricks of cocaine.

There were also seven air-purifying respirator masks found in the apartment with Tio’s DNA on six of the masks. The estimated value of the drugs was $650,000 if sold in bricks and more if sold at the street level.

The Crown argued that Tio had knowledge and control of the drugs, not just on the day he was arrested but on an ongoing basis and that he had been involved in the cocaine-processing operation for some time.

The prosecutor pointed to the fact he was at the apartment twice on the day he was arrested, had keys and access to the suite and that his DNA was on six masks.

Tio’s lawyer argued that his client had an innocent explanation for his presence at the apartment and for his DNA being on the masks.

Tio said he had a close friend named Wan Zhou who trusted him with expensive things he owned including a platinum Rolex watch and a Bentley that he allowed Tio to use one evening for a date.

He said he came to realize Zhou, whom he said died in a car accident in December 2017 and before he could give evidence, was a drug dealer.

Tio, who was employed as a painter, testified that on the day of the arrest, Zhou allowed him to enter the apartment to pick up the masks, which Tio claimed to have loaned to Zhou for the purposes of a flooring project.

But in her verdict, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Francesca Marzari did not accept his story.

She said in her ruling that while the evidence “strongly” suggested he had manually handled the cocaine, it was enough for the Crown to establish possession of the drugs that he was present in the small apartment while the cocaine was being processed.

Tio’s sentencing is set for March 14.