A man who is the subject of a civil forfeiture lawsuit launched last year has now been charged with 21 drug-related offences in Abbotsford.
According to court records, Guo Rui Kuang – also known as Shawn Guo Rui Kuang – has been charged with 16 counts of drug trafficking and five counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.
The charges against Kuang, 46, were sworn Feb. 4 in Abbotsford provincial court. He has been released from custody pending his next court date.
A notice of civil claim was filed last November by the province’s civil forfeiture office, seeking an Abbotsford home and two in Maple Ridge.
The documents state that a residence at 30553 Sparrow Drive in Abbotsford is owned by Kuang and is his principal residence.
The lawsuit says that Kuang and another person – Jing Wen Liang – also own two townhouses in Maple Ridge that are located at 11272 240 St. (unit 27) and 11280 Pazarena Place (unit 1062).
The documents state that the Abbotsford Police Department began an investigation in November 2023 into a phone number suspected of being a drug-trafficking line. An undercover officer contacted the line at various times between Nov. 7, 2023 and Jan. 20, 2024.
Kuang then met with and sold cocaine and fentanyl to the officer, the lawsuit says.
Investigators also noticed Kuang frequently coming and going from the Sparrow Drive property.
The notice of civil claim states that Kuang was arrested on Feb. 6, 2024 before meeting with the undercover officer for a large purchase of cocaine and fentanyl.
The claim says that a search warrant executed at the Sparrow Drive home turned up almost $101,000 in Canadian currency, almost $4,400 in US funds, and prepackaged crystal meth, cocaine and fentanyl.
The lawsuit alleges that the three properties in question are the “proceeds and instruments of unlawful activity.”
The civil forfeiture office is seeking the seizure of the three properties, as well as the money that was found by police.
Civil forfeiture lawsuits can proceed before criminal charges are laid or before there is a conviction, and even if no charges are laid or if there is a stay or an acquittal.
If a judge decides assets must be forfeited, they can then be sold and the proceeds used by the government for victim compensation, crime prevention activities, crime remediation activities, and administration of the Civil Forfeiture Act.
