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Seized Malakwa residence back on the market

Malakwa residence that serves as home to convicted drug trafficker Colin Martin is back on the market.
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The residence at 3621 Northway Rd. is currently on the market for $850

The palatial Malakwa residence that serves as home to convicted drug trafficker Colin Martin is back on the market, though its sale remains subject to the federal seized property management act.

The 6,700-square-foot home at 3621 Northway Rd. is currently listed at $850,000 – a substantial drop from the $1.75 million asking price back in January 2011, when the house was briefly on the market despite a court order granted to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada and the RCMP Integrated Proceeds of Crime section preventing the sale.

Paul Riley, a Crown counsellor with the prosecution service, says the restraint order on the property was recently varied by the B.C. Supreme Court to allow for the property’s sale, with net proceeds to be held under the seized property management directorate.

“If the property is sold, then net proceeds will be restrained in the place of the property itself,” said Riley.

Riley said the variance was granted at the request of the property’s registered owner. Land Title records list numbered company 311165 B.C. Ltd. as the property’s owner. The company’s director is listed as Steve Ambrose of Sicamous.

Martin and Cahill are tenants of the home, which sits on one of three neighbouring properties raided by police in July 2010. Beneath a workshop on one of the neighbouring properties, investigating officers uncovered a bunker that contained about 3,000 marijuana plants. From the property at 3621, or Lot 5, court documents state police claimed to have seized two baggies of marijuana, a paper bag containing marijuana with the name “Colin” written on it and other drug paraphernalia, as well as documents and emails showing Martin, his common-law wife Jennifer Cahill and Gorge Timber Ltd. (of which Cahill was listed as president) arranging for the bunker’s construction, and a Health Canada application for a licence to produce marijuana prepared in Martin’s name.

Martin and Cahill are both facing related drug charges for production and possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Martin remains behind bars and is scheduled for a pre-trial conference in Kelowna on April 9 in relation to the above drug charges. He is also expected to be in court in September for extradition hearings for separate charges relating to a cross-border drug smuggling operation.

 



Lachlan Labere

About the Author: Lachlan Labere

Editor of the Salmon Arm Observer, Shuswap Market, and Eagle Valley News. I'm always looking for new and exciting ways to keep our readers informed and engaged.
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