Traffic stop eventually leads to civil forfeiture

KELOWNA – A Kelowna man was first caught for speeding, then lost cell phones and $51,780 in a civil forfeiture.

When RCMP stopped the red Volkswagon Beetle for going 86 km/h in a posted 60 km/h zone on Highway 33 East near McKenzie Road, a search was conducted for undisclosed reasons. During the search police seized three cell phones from the cab as well as a backpack from the truck containing two sums of cash, one in a vacuum sealed bag. No drugs were immediately apparent, but a police service dog later 'indicated' on the bag, suggesting it may have been contaminated with drug residue.

The man, 30, was released at the scene, taking with him a ticket for speeding.

Investigators referred the case to the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office, resulting in the forfeiture of the cash and three cell phones.

For more information on Civil Forfeiture in B.C. visit http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/civilforfeiture/index.htm.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca, call (250) 718-0428 or tweet @AdamProskiw.