A 40-year-old man was found guilty on two charges connected to a large illegal marijuana grow operation uncovered on a Rosedale property more than three years ago.
While Mao Quan Lin was found guilty in Chilliwack Provincial Court on July 2, charges were dismissed against his co-accused Chang Hu Xu, the property’s owner.
The two were charged with production of a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking in connection to a bust at a Gillanders Road farm that found more than 3,200 plants and 32 kilograms of dried marijuana inside buildings on the property.
• READ MORE: VIDEO: RCMP seize 3,200 marijuana plants at Chilliwack farm
Six people were arrested as part of the search warrant being executed on March 14, 2017. That day City of Chilliwack staff and a BC Hydro worker were on the scene with RCMP as police removed multiple garbage bags from a farm building.
The five-acre property was owned by Chang Yu Xu as of Oct. 21, 2016, according to city records.
Xu and Lin were both charged with running the illegal grow-op, but Xu applied to have the search warrant quashed, arguing that police asked for a telewarrant when a Chilliwack judge was not available, but they should have gone to another courthouse instead.
Xu’s lawyer argued that police took a “relaxed approach” in that they had information from city hall as early as September 2016 about the possible grow-op but didn’t act until March 2017.
At the time of the bust, police did not even confirm that illegal marijuana was being grown on site, but a source that had done work on the site told The Progress that during a visit he saw multiple medical marijuana growing permits from Langley and Surrey displayed inside the building.
After Judge David Silverman dismissed Xu’s application on July 24, 2019 to quash the warrant, a four-day trial was scheduled for August.
• READ MORE: Large Chilliwack marijuana grow-op bust from 2017 to go to trial
On July 2, 2020, Lin was found guilty, while charges against Xu were dismissed.
Lin is next due in court July 14 to fix a date for sentencing.
• RELATED: Chilliwack’s largest ever marijuana grow-op case finally over with no verdict
@PeeJayAitchpaul.henderson@theprogress.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
