The Attorney General brought a civil forfeiture application under the Civil Remedies Act, 2001 seeking forfeiture of $44,425 seized from a camping trailer during execution of a search warrant.
Police located cocaine, marijuana, cutting agents, digital scales, packaging materials, and large bundles of cash, and ion testing showed cocaine traces throughout the trailer.
The responding owner asserted the money was lawfully derived from cash automobile sales and stored in the trailer due to personal and financial circumstances.
The court admitted expert evidence linking the packaging and denominations of the cash to drug trafficking and found the respondent’s explanation not credible.
On the balance of probabilities, the court held the currency constituted proceeds and/or an instrument of unlawful activity related to drug trafficking and ordered forfeiture to the Crown.
