An interprovincial network of drug traffickers transported a large amount of illicit drugs and firearms to Manitoba from Toronto, according to Winnipeg police, after making several arrests in an investigation of months that began the last spring.
Winnipeg police say that the investigation, called Lowkey project, began in April 2024, with the help of Manitoba RCMP, the police service of the first Nations of Manitoba and the Police in Saskatoon, Vancouver and Toronto.
On January 31, the Police issued multiple search warrants for addresses in Winnipeg, Sandy Bay First Nation and Thompson in Manitoba, and for addresses in Toronto, Brampton and Scarborough in Ontario. There was also an address in Saskatoon, police said.
Police say that their investigation has determined that traffickers used rail services, commercial aircraft, trains, all -terrain vehicles, ships, cars and trucks with hidden compartments to transport drugs, according to INSP. Josh Ewatski, with the organized crime unit of the Winnipeg Police Service.
The drugs were distributed throughout Manitoba, including Winnipeg, Portage La Prairie, Thompson and Sandy Bay First Nation, Ewatski said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The traffickers used “sophisticated” methods to hide drugs in luggage that could fool the airport scanners, according to Ewatski. The commercial airlines they used will not be charged for not detecting drugs, he said.
The network also “used fraudulent identification, as driving licenses for multiple provinces [and] Social Security numbers to travel in airlines and commercial railroads, “said Ewatski.
“They also used fraudulent identification to open bank accounts throughout Canada to access money to finance their operations,” he said.
The drug traffickers attacked the communities of the North, including Norway House Cree Nation, Tataskweyak Cree Nation, Nelson House Cree Nation and the PAS, according to the Police.
The traffickers would stay in hotels and Airbnbs to establish their operation and store their products and firearms, according to the police. Then they transported drugs and firearms to the communities of the north and the first nations to “withdraw from their vulnerabilities” collaborating with existing drug networks, said Ewatski.
Police Service of the first Nations of Manitoba INSP. Derek Beach said he believes that Sandy Bay First Nation was used as a center where drugs were broken down and then transported to other communities.
“Unfortunately, it is too common in our communities of the first nations for drugs to enter,” he said, added that the police of the first Nations of Manitoba is hiring more officers and sharing information with the Winnipeg police to combat drug trafficking operations.
9 arrested, guarantees for another 5
Searches at the end of January led the arrests of nine people so far. Seven are accused of multiple conspiracy positions to commit an accusable crime:
- A 25 -year -old from Winnipeg.
- A 19 -year -old from Sandy Bay in Manitoba.
- A 22 -year -old from Toronto’s metropolitan area.
- A 23 -year -old from the Metropolitan Area of Toronto.
- A 25 -year -old from Toronto’s metropolitan area.
- A 33 -year -old from Toronto’s metropolitan area.
- A 36 -year -old from the United States
A 35 -year -old manitoba/Toronto’s metropolitan area is also accused of three conspiracy charges to commit an accusable crime, along with numerous positions of firearms, police said.
Police also arrested a 31 -year -old man from Toronto’s metropolitan area, who was sought in a murder order throughout Canada for first -degree murder and two positions of murder attempt in Toronto.
Police are still looking for five people from Alberta and Ontario, aged between 20 and 23 years old, who are also accused of participating in the traffic ring and are sought by conspiracy charges to commit an accusable crime.
January searches in Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatoon also led to multiple seizures, including seven firearms loaded, various types of ammunition, approximately 10 kilograms of cocaine (with an estimated value of the street of $ 250,000), five kilograms of metammetamine (estimated street value (estimated value of the street of $ 35,000), 25,000 pills Hydromatals (estimated street value of the street. $ 280,000 in Canadian currency and three vehicles.
While the province strengthens the border with Canada-United States, Manitoba Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said the police are seeing a lot of interprovincial activity of drug trafficking.
“This is a substantial bust that we are seeing here, and I think he speaks of the fact that organized crime is active in the province of Manitoba,” he said at the press conference on Wednesday.
Wiebe said the police must have a continuous coordinated response to share information and eliminate drug trafficking operations.
An interprovincial network of drug traffickers transported a large amount of illicit drugs and firearms to Manitoba from Toronto, according to Winnipeg police, after making several arrests in an investigation of months that began the last spring.
