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Government seeks forfeiture of two Chilliwack homes worth $1.8 million from alleged drug dealers

Claim filed one day after a December raid that turned up drugs, guns, cash and luxury vehicles
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B.C.’s Director of Civil Forfeiture is seeking to claim part of the value of this house on Chelmsford Drive in Chilliwack valued at $1.1 million, as seen here on Dec. 30, 2020, which was allegedly purchased with the proceeds of illegal drug trafficking. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)

One day after drug raids at four Chilliwack properties turned up meth, cocaine, fentanyl, guns and cash, two alleged drug traffickers are facing the seizure of two of those homes as the proceeds of crime.

In a notice of civil claim filed on Dec. 17, B.C.’s director of civil forfeiture is seeking the lands and structures at a Chelmsford Place house on Chilliwack Mountain valued at $1.1 million and an Alpine Crescent home on Promontory valued at $700,000.

The execution of search warrants at the four homes a day before civil forfeiture application, on Dec. 16, was the culmination of a complex RCMP investigation that began in November 2019.

READ MORE: Drugs, firearms and luxury vehicles seized in Chilliwack in alleged drug-trafficking investigation

Luxury vehicles and motorcycles were also seized – along with the drugs, guns and cash – from four properties, including the two subject to forfeiture, but also homes in the 41000-block of Majuba Hill Road and the 46000-block of Hudson Road.

“A complex RCMP investigation has resulted in the seizure and prevention of an extensive amount of illegal drugs and firearms from reaching the streets,” said RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Mike Rail. “We remain committed to safety of the citizens of the community.”

No one has yet been criminally charged in the drug busts at the properties on Dec. 16, but the director of civil forfeiture, an arm of the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, filed the notice of civil claim to Cody Daniel Thiessen and Candace Marion Peggy Thiessen, owners of the Chelmsford property, and James Potgieter, registered owner of the Alpine property, according to documents provided to The Progress by the Ministry of Attorney General’s office.

[*Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story said the civil forfeiture office falls under the Ministry of Attorney General. The Progress regrets the error.]

“The Chelmsford Property and Alpine Property are proceeds and instruments of unlawful activity as defined in the Civil Forfeiture Act.”

The “unlawful activity” outlined in the notice is defined as production, possession, and possession for the purpose of trafficking; possessing the proceeds of crime; money laundering the proceeds of crime; and failure to declare taxable income.

During the investigation that identified Potgieter allegedly working for Cody Thiessen, the search warrants for the subject properties and a storage locker turned up “bulk quantities” of heroin/fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine. Also found was ketamine, cutting agents, drug packaging materials, score sheets, firearms, and a “large amount of cash,” among other things.

The government is seeking all fruits and proceeds from the properties from the date they became registered to the Thiessens and Potgieter, and all profits or rents from the properties.

A trial has not been set yet for the civil forfeiture hearing, but the location is scheduled to be the Chilliwack Law Courts.


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@PeeJayAitch
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