Hazelton restaurant owners cleared on grow-op charges

Source: bclocalnews

The owners of a New Hazelton restaurant have been found not guilty today on two counts each of possession for the purpose of trafficking and the production of a controlled substance.

The verdict in Smithers Supreme Court clears David H. Lee and his wife My C. Lee of involvement in a major grow-op in South Hazelton.

On Mar. 6, 2009, New Hazelton RCMP members executed a search warrant on a residence and in the process uncovered what they said at the time was the largest drug bust in Hazelton's history.

In all, the judge said in his verdict, there were 1,041 plants confiscated in the bust, working out to about 130-pounds. He said the value could have exceeded $500,000.

The Lee's are the home's owners and rented the property out.

The trial sought to determine whether or not the Lee's had knowledge that their property was being used as a grow-op.

RCMP surveillance of the home, the court heard, observed the Lee's in the home the day before the search warrant was issued.

However, the judge noted, they were not seen in a room with any growing equipment or with any drugs.

He did say that given the testimony from an RCMP constable, someone would have to have deficiencies in their smell to not know something was going on. That said, while he had suspicions that the Lee's may have known something was going on in the house, he was not persuaded beyond a reasonable doubt that they would have known precisely what that was.