Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. Director of Civil Forfeiture claims 10 properties owned by alleged drug dealer

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 23 Nov, 2023 06:08 PM
  • B.C. Director of Civil Forfeiture claims 10 properties owned by alleged drug dealer

The B.C. government wants 10 properties in Prince George forfeited for their alleged use in a years-long drug trafficking operation. 

The province's Director of Civil Forfeiture claims in a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court that properties owned by Daniel Prediger should be handed over to the government because of their use in "unlawful activity." 

The civil forfeiture lawsuit filed in Victoria alleges Prediger is a member of a drug trafficking organization who bought properties with illicit proceeds from activities in Prince George, about 700 kilometres north of Vancouver.

The director alleges Prediger owned some of the properties through a company registered in B.C. called JLD Enterprises Ltd. 

Prediger is the "sole director and operating mind" of the company, which was registered to his last known address on Riverview Road in Prince George, the lawsuit says. 

In May 2023, the lawsuit says the company transferred ownership of three of the properties to Prediger for $1 each and "other good and valuable consideration."

Those properties, according to BC Assessment, are townhouses built in the 1960s. 

The lawsuit says garbage collected in 2017 from the Riverview Road home contained records of drug sales and debts, as well as plastic bags contaminated with cocaine and a drug cutting agent. 

The civil forfeiture claim also says one of Prediger's associates sold heroin to an undercover police officer in 2018 on his behalf.

It says other properties allegedly used by Prediger and his associates contained documents including cheques from JLD Enterprises, a prohibited "morning star" weapon, as well as drugs including methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine and psilocybin.

The director claims the properties were used for drug dealing and tax evasion, and Prediger's legitimate income was "insufficient" to enable him to own them. 

None of the allegations have been tested or proven in court and Prediger has not filed a response to the lawsuit. 

The 10 properties have a combined assessed value of more than $2.2 million. An online search of B.C. court records shows Prediger faced several traffic violations in Prince George between 2009 and 2021, but he hasn't been charged with any drug offences described in the civil forfeiture lawsuit. 

In a ruling released by the B.C. Court of Appeal in March 2023 in an unrelated drug trafficking case, Sgt. Chad Chamberlain with the Prince George RCMP called Prediger "'a significant figure in the local drug trade' who 'operates at a higher-level.'"  Neither Chamberlain nor a lawyer who previously represented Prediger responded to requests for comment. 

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Monthly bills to decrease: Fortis BC

Monthly bills to decrease: Fortis BC
The utility says it will amount to about $7 a month in savings for residential customers, depending on a customer’s consumption. Joe Mazza, vice-president of energy supply at Fortis, says the decrease will provide customers with some financial relief as they head into the colder fall and winter months. 

Monthly bills to decrease: Fortis BC

Harinder Singh Sihota arrested in car crashes

Harinder Singh Sihota arrested in car crashes
38-year-old Harinder Singh Sihota is in custody as police in Surrey and Delta investigate a series of violent events that included a break-in, assault and several car crashes. Surrey R-C-M-P say it began with a break-in Saturday night at a home in northwest Surrey and the assault of several people in the house.

Harinder Singh Sihota arrested in car crashes

Murder of Sikh leader in B.C. may be linked to Indian govt

Murder of Sikh leader in B.C. may be linked to Indian govt
Canada ordered an Indian diplomat to leave Canada on Monday in response to what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called "credible" intelligence linking agents of India's government to the shooting death of a Sikh leader near Vancouver. 

Murder of Sikh leader in B.C. may be linked to Indian govt

Champagne, Freeland meet with grocery executives to discuss stabilizing price

Champagne, Freeland meet with grocery executives to discuss stabilizing price
Top executives from Canada's major grocery chains are in Ottawa this morning to meet with two federal cabinet ministers and discuss measures to stabilize grocery prices. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne are set to meet with executives from Loblaw, Metro, Empire, Walmart and Costco this morning.

Champagne, Freeland meet with grocery executives to discuss stabilizing price

Vancouver firefighter sent to hospital after roof collapses during fire

Vancouver firefighter sent to hospital after roof collapses during fire
A firefighter was injured after an aggressive fire in Vancouver's downtown early Saturday caused a ceiling to collapse onto him. Assistant fire chief Pierre Morin says the firefighter was taken to hospital with minor injuries, but has since been released.

Vancouver firefighter sent to hospital after roof collapses during fire

3 minor earthquakes near Port Hardy

3 minor earthquakes near Port Hardy
Earthquakes Canada said a 4.0 magnitude quake was registered around 8:20 a.m. local time. Its epicentre was 185 kilometres west of Port Hardy, north of Vancouver Island. This followed a 5.5 magnitude quake recorded at 4:30 a.m. and another 4.2 magnitude quake recorded about an hour and a half earlier near the same location.  

3 minor earthquakes near Port Hardy