Kelowna properties seized in 'ChronFather' cannabis, mushrooms bust
Several Kelowna properties seized for their part in a multi-million dollar online cannabis and magic mushroom venture, will remain in the hands of the province.
On April 25 B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Murray allowed an extension of the court order for the Civil Forfeiture Office to keep the properties, along with multiple frozen bank accounts.
The case involved a Calgary-based website, The ChronFather, which had offered cannabis and psilocybin, (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) for sale by mail order.
In December 2021 police seized $13 million of drugs from properties in Kelowna and Beaverdell, along with cash, firearms and a truck.
Police said at the time that the website had generated $11 million in 2021, which funded organized crime activities. One of the properties seized was a five-bedroom, 3,700-square-foot home on Brentwood Rd in Kelowna.
According to a notice of claim filed by the province the Chronfather was run by Chandler Cannon who used properties in Kelowna and Beaverdell to grow and process the cannabis before it was shipped to Calgary and sold on the website.
According to the court documents, several people did have licences from Health Canada authorizing them to grow cannabis at the properties in Kelowna and Beaverdell.
However, the court documents say the cannabis was being produced contrary to the Cannabis Act.
In his response to the court filing, Cannon denied any unlawful activity took place and that the civil forfeiture office has no right to seize his properties.
"The conduct of the state agents, in this case, resulted in serious breaches of the Charter and reveal a serial pattern of disregard for the defendants' rights," Cannon's response reads.
Court documents show that the Calgary Police Service began investigating the website in the spring of 2021.
An undercover officer bought psilocybin online, E-Transferring $300 and receiving the product days later.
The decision shows millions of dollars passed through several bank accounts associated with the website from May to October 2021.
The decision does not say how much money is in the frozen bank account.
Justice Murray also pointed out that shortly after obtaining a court order to freeze one of the accounts, the Civil Forfeiture Office discovered some of the bank account details were wrong.
"Before the Director was able to vary the (court order) to correct the bank details, (the account holder) emptied out its erroneously detailed account," the Justice said.
The Justice went on to say the onus is on the defendants to show that seizing their property is not in the interest of justice.
The Justice, however, found they had failed to do so.
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