B.C. officers went searching for a lion. They found illicit cannabis and fentanyl instead

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Two years ago, conservation officers went to an Abbotsford property looking for a lion and a cougar.

What they found instead was a large-scale illicit cannabis growing operation and significant amounts of fentanyl.

Now the B.C. government wants the rural property forfeited as a proceed of crime and instrument of illegal activity.

A civil forfeiture claim was filed last week against Dinh Van Bui, who bought the three-hecatre property at 7467 Walters St. in 2013 for $565,000.

But the real target of the 2023 investigation appears to be the former owner of the land — animal trainer Joseph “Gerry” Therrien — and his son, Luc Therrien.

The elder Therrien has operated Action Animals for years, which says on its website that it provides “exotic and indigenous animals for the film and entertainment industry.”

Gerry Therrien was named in a 2011 civil forfeiture suit filed against the same property after another illegal grow-op was found in a barn there.

And he faced criminal charges and pleaded guilty in February 2014 to one count of producing a controlled substance. He got an 18-month conditional sentence.

The most recent statement of claim filed by the director of civil forfeiture cites the 2010 Abbotsford Police investigation that led to the discovery of almost 1,600 cannabis plants inside a barn and in “various stages of growth.”

At the time, they also found letters addressed to “J. Therrien” and “a hydro bypass/diversion device.”

The conservation officers, assisted by Abbotsford Police, executed a search warrant on July 12, 2023, looking “for a lion and parts thereof, a cougar and parts thereof, and cellphones.”

Inside the same barn, they found “a large-scale cannabis grow operation, consisting of nine grow rooms, one drying room, one storage room, and one room containing several industrial-sized containers of chemicals and plant nutrients,” the statement of claim said, adding that the APD then obtained a search warrant for the main residence and all the outbuildings.

This time, the barn contained more than 3,800 plants, as well as 154 bundles of drying cannabis.

There was also a tenancy agreement listing “J. Therrien as a tenant of the property.”

Inside a separate one-bedroom apartment on the property, police found a safe containing fentanyl pills and cocaine, both drugs “bundled or packaged in a manner consistent with drug trafficking.”

Several firearms were seized, as well as a firearms licence for Luc Lamont Therrien. Two of the guns were prohibited, the lawsuit said. There were also two weight scales with drug residue on them, seven cellphones and body armour.

During the search of the main residence and garage, officers found bills and tax documents for “J. Therrien,” an Adidas duffel bag containing more than 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl, some heroin and synthetic cannabis, and a black reusable bag containing another “748 grams of fentanyl, which was bundled or packaged in a manner consistent with drug trafficking.”

There were also three more safes containing a dozen firearms, bulk ammunition and magazines.

The statement of claim says there was no licence to produce cannabis on the property. And it lists a number of other crimes committed there, including trafficking, careless storage of firearms, unauthorized possession of firearms and a prohibited weapon, possession of the proceeds of crime, money laundering and participating in the activities of a criminal organization.

No criminal charges have yet been laid. And no statements of defence in the civil case have been filed.

The 2025 annual report for Gerry Therrien’s company — Northern Animal Exchange — lists the Walters Street address for Therrien. The company began in Alberta in 1987 and was first registered in B.C. in 1999, according to the corporate record.

Therrien did not respond Thursday to messages left by Postmedia.

kbolan@postmedia.com

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