Back in July 2021, Craig Stephen Latimer was sentenced to two years in jail after admitting to the unauthorized possession of prohibited firearms.
Vancouver Police had alleged he was part of a criminal organization led by his son, Red Scorpion gangster son Kyle, who was sentenced to 17 years in the same investigation.
Now the elder Latimer is facing new allegations laid out in a lawsuit filed last week by the B.C. director of civil forfeiture.
The government agency says Latimer, 62, was selling drugs from a Chilliwack residence that RCMP investigators searched last October.
Inside, the officers found more than $87,335, cocaine, methamphetamine, a stolen loaded Glock and two “remote drop drone mechanisms,” the director said, adding that the cash should be forfeited to the B.C. government.
Chilliwack Mounties had begun their trafficking investigation targeting Latimer in June 2024.
The lawsuit said that the drugs found in the residence on Fairbanks Crescent were “bundled or packaged in a manner consistent with drug trafficking.” There were also 756 pills labelled “Dilly’s” and believed to be Dilaudid, a hydromorphone painkiller.
The suit also said the cash found “was bundled or packaged in a manner not consistent with standard banking practices.”
Police also found “records of transactions, including sale, collection, and debt, three weigh scales with drug residue on them, a money-counting machine, a box containing 50 rounds of 9mm ammunition and a black metal suppressor for a firearm.
Latimer’s identification and tax documents were in the residence.
“All or a significant portion of the money was obtained, either directly or indirectly, by participating in the unlawful activity,” the director said.
The alleged crimes include possession for the purpose of trafficking, trafficking, unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of the proceeds of crime, money laundering and failure to declare taxable income.
No new criminal charges have been filed against Latimer. Nor has he filed a defence in the civil suit.
Chilliwack RCMP spokesperson Debbie Sargent said in an email the “file is still under investigation and charges will be recommended in the future.”
There was no response to a request for more information about the remote drop drone mechanisms seized.
Drop drones have been used to smuggle drugs into B.C. prisons, said John Randle, regional president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers.
Speaking generally, Randle said: “Drop drones present a significant security threat to our federal institutions, and correctional officers have seen a large rise in drugs, cellphones, and weapons introduced into our prisons contributing to gang violence and trafficking with the walls of our institutions.”
Craig Latimer was originally charged in 2018, along with his son Kyle and several associates after a lengthy joint investigation led by the Vancouver Police and dubbed Project Territory.
Project Territory, which also involved the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Agency and other police in the region, led to the seizure of 93 firearms, a pressure cooker bomb, about 50 kilograms of fentanyl, cocaine and other drugs, $833,000 in cash, jewelry worth $800,000 and collector cars valued at another $350,000.
Eleven people accused pleaded guilty, including Latimer’s son Kyle, who said at the time that his dad was not part of his criminal organization. Both Latimers were among the defendants in a 2017 civil forfeiture case stemming from the Territory investigation. Most of the cash, jewelry and vehicles seized were forfeited to the government, but the defendants were repaid 20 per cent of the value of the items sold.
Blueksy: @kimbolan.bsky.social