VICTORIA DRUG TRAFFICKER HANGS ON TO TRUCK

A Victoria man convicted of trafficking marijuana will not have to
turn over his $52,000 truck to the director of civil forfeiture.

Frank Wolff, a retired fire department captain, was caught with the
pot after he was stopped in the vehicle for speeding on his way to
Williams Lake in November 2005.

An RCMP officer searched the 2003 Dodge Ram truck, finding "eight
one-half pound Ziploc bags of marijuana inside a black garbage bag,"
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Metzger said in his judgment this week.

Wolff pleaded guilty to possession for the purpose of trafficking in
2007 and was given a conditional discharge.

At the time of his arrest, the truck was leased, but Wolff bought the
vehicle outright after his conviction, leading the civil forfeiture
office to file the claim that "Wolff used the truck as an instrument
of unlawful activity."

Metzger rejected this claim.