Province aims to seize six homes allegedly linked to drug trafficking
More than $7.5 million in Metro Vancouver property, as well as bank accounts, have been frozen in a B.C. Supreme Court suit filed by the province that alleges the assets are proceeds of drug trafficking.
In a legal action filed last summer, the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office seeks to permanently seize six homes in Burnaby, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge and Mission it alleges were linked to drug trafficking and used to launder money.
In the suit filed in B.C. Supreme Court, the civil forfeiture office alleges an auto and appliance repair business was used as a front to conceal the money generated by the alleged drug operation ring.
In its court filing, the civil forfeiture office also claims failure to declare taxable income.
The provincial agency also seeks to have forfeited $200,000 in cash — some of it in U.S. and Mexican currency — as well as jewelry and other items seized by New Westminster police during an investigation that uncovered the alleged drug-trafficking ring dealing in cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and methamphetamine.
The freezing order was extended in a court order this fall preventing the properties from being sold or mortgaged.
The court case was moved to Vancouver from Victoria in December.
Named in the suit are Ashok Kumar Naidu, also known as Roy
Naidu; Gina Chinamma Naidu; Avenel Anish Naidu; Can Auto Electric & Appliance Repair Ltd.; and Alisha Ann Watkins.
Avenel Naidu and Ashok Naidu are directors of Can Auto Electric, which owns one of the properties.
The defendants have not responded to the civil forfeiture office’s claim.
The suit includes allegations that have not been proven in court.
The defendants have not been charged criminally. 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.
The civil forfeiture office’s claim filed in court outlines the findings of a New Westminster police investigation in 2017 and 2018. The police findings allege that Avenel
Naidu was one of the operators of the drug ring and that one of the properties in Burnaby was being used as a storage and meeting location by the drug ring.
On June 20, 2018, police obtained warrants to search multiple locations in Metro Vancouver, according to the civil forfeiture suit.
Among items seized were more than two kilograms of cocaine, caffeine, fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine in various packages and mixtures.
Other items seized by police included U-47700, an opioid analgesic drug that has approximately 7.5 times the potency of morphine; tablets of tadalafil, also known as Cialis; capsules of the drug MDA; phenacetin, an agent used to cut cocaine; and a small amount of marijuana.
Also seized were cans of bear spray, scales, hard-knuckle gloves, a 9mm loaded Luger pistol with the serial number scratched off, a stolen and loaded 9mm Norinco pistol, more than two dozen cellphones, designer hand bags and jewelry (some of which was stolen), fraudulent documents and identification, a 40-calibre Smith and Wesson pistol, fraudulent tax documents and pay stubs, and cash.
A random selection of the cash seized at the residences was found to contain high concentrations of cocaine residue, as well as methamphetamine and fentanyl residue, according to the court filings.
According to the civil forfeiture suit, Can Auto Electric was used by the defendants as a front for concealing the operation of the drug ring.
“Deposits to Can Auto’s business bank accounts are inconsistent in their size and frequency with deposits for automotive repair work,” states the claim filed by the civil forfeiture office.
“At all material times, Avenel Naidu exhibited a level of personal expenditure and asset ownership inconsistent with being employed at Can Auto and not explicable by other legitimate sources of income, including his acquisition of multiple expensive vehicles, watches, designer bags and other luxury items,” states the claim.