The B.C. government wants to seize the Port Moody townhouse of a woman alleged to be a Hells Angels associate found with more than $400,000 of suspected drug profits.
The director of civil forfeiture filed a lawsuit against Tanya Jeanie Kellahan, 51, this month alleging that her home at 595 Carlsen Place was purchased in 2018 with the proceeds of crime.
Kellahan was arrested by Port Moody Police on June 18 — the day she arrived at a Port Coquitlam warehouse with almost $200,000 in the trunk of her Volkswagen. She was released without charges.
Inside the warehouse, at 1170-580 Seaborne Ave., police found more than 111 pounds of cannabis in vacuum-sealed bags and a large freezer containing illicit cannabis oils, edible products, dozens of packages of flavoured gummies, 126 boxes of concentrates, 124 jars of shatter and 115 jars of various types of live resin.
More cannabis products were found in a desk and elsewhere in the warehouse, the director alleges.
There was also some cash, bags labelled Bud Hunters, boxes of Bud Hunters merchandise, various packaging bags and wrappers, zap straps, cooking equipment and two counting machines as well as a firearm in a hidden safe.
The same day, police searched Kellahan’s 1,500 square foot townhouse and allege they found another $232,817 in an unlocked safe, a loaded Mossberg Chainsaw shotgun underneath the bed in the master bedroom and a loaded Smith & Wesson revolver in a nightstand.
There was more cash totalling a few thousand dollars in Vietnamese dong, Mexican pesos, Australian dollars, British pounds and euros, the lawsuit claims.
There was more “illicit cannabis” along with pills and “an unknown white powder.”
The director said Kellahan does not have a Health Canada licence to possess cannabis products.
Port Moody police began its investigation last fall “after receiving information that she was running a drug trafficking operation from the warehouse and distributing cocaine, fentanyl, GHB, and cannabis,” the lawsuit says.
“Between September 2019 and June 2020, the PMPD conducted surveillance on Ms. Kellahan, the warehouse, and the Carlsen property. The PMPD observed various individuals, including Ms. Kellahan and associates of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club attending the warehouse with packages bags and boxes,” the suit says.
It does not name any of the Hells Angels associates observed or provide information about the chapter to which they are allegedly linked.
But a 2012 civil forfeiture case filed against Kellahan and several others said she was associated with the Haney chapter and that when police searched her residence in Maple Ridge at the time, they found Hells Angels paraphernalia. The earlier case alleged she was selling cannabis and cocaine.
Kellahan purchased her Port Moody townhouse on Feb. 20, 2018 for $710,000, according to B.C. Assessment records. The unit is currently listed for sale for $768,000.
The lawsuit says a numbered company registered federally in March 2019 provided a mortgage to Kellahan just days later.
“The numbered company mortgage is not a legitimate mortgage and was used by the defendant to launder the proceeds of crime,” the forfeiture director alleges.
He also wants cash in Kellahan’s bank accounts forfeited to the government, as well as her interest in five vehicles — the 2014 Volkswagen with the cash in the trunk, a 2014 Audi, a 2013 Porsche Cayenne, a 2017 Toyota Tundra and a 2018 Mercedes Metris van. She owns the VW and the Audi and leases the others, the suit says.
Kellahan has not been charged criminally. Nor has she yet filed a statement of defence in the case. She lists her profession on her land title as a “real estate assistant.” She also registered a numbered company in March 2018, according to the B.C. corporate registry.
The government alleges Kellahan should have to forfeit the townhouse, cars, cash and other items seized because she’s committed crimes, including possession for the purpose of trafficking, illegal distribution of cannabis, possession of the proceeds of crime, unsafe storage of a restricted prohibited firearm and failure to declare taxable income.
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Source: The Province