Manitoba drug bust has northwestern Ontario ties
Drugs with a street value of over $37 million have been seized in Manitoba’s largest ever drug bust.
A total 33 people have been arrested, including a 25-year-old man from Kenora.
The Winnipeg Police spent two years investigating the importation of cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine.
It was then distributed across Manitoba and northwestern Ontario.
Police say some of the people arrested had ties to organized crime in Canada, including the Hell’s Angels, the Wolfpack Alliance and the Mexican Cartel.
In addition to the drugs, police seized 14 firearms, 1.35 million illegal cigarettes, and $825,000 in cash.
Because of this investigation, the OPP in Fort Frances and Dryden were able to arrest four other people and seize 26 kilograms of cocaine.
The investigation involved a number of different law enforcement agencies including:
This interprovincial investigation, along with the Winnipeg Police Service included the collaboration of the following agencies:
- Manitoba Criminal Intelligence Centre (MCIC)
- Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC)
- Parkland Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP – Alberta)
- Edmonton Police Service (EPS)
- Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (Toronto)
- Guns and Gangs Unit (Winnipeg Police Service)
- Winkler Police Service
- Brandon Police Service
- Ontario Provincial Police (OPP – Paris Ontario and Northwest Region)
- Morden Police Service
- Ontario Provincial Police Northwest Region
- Ontario Provincial Police Brant County
- Kenora Ontario Provincial Police Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau
