Police seize 26 kilograms of cocaine, $750K in south Winnipeg drug bust

Police seize 26 kilograms of cocaine, $750K in south Winnipeg drug bust

Value of drugs seized estimated at $1.5 million, police say

A major drug trafficking operation in south Winnipeg has been impacted, police say, after they seized more than 26 kilograms of cocaine they valued at $1.5 million.

A 40-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman were arrested following an organized crime unit investigation centred around a home on Satinwood Place in the St. Vital neighbourhood.

"I would say that this is a significant disruption to the drug supply that's in the city. Unfortunately, what we're seeing is it's not a lasting disruption because of the amount of drugs that do come into Winnipeg and Manitoba," Insp. Josh Ewatski said at a news conference on Tuesday.

"But when we have a seizure that's a size like this, it definitely disrupts the availability of drugs on the streets for a time."

The man was arrested on Sept. 16 while leaving the home with three kilograms of cocaine, police said in a news release on Tuesday. The woman was arrested at another residence.

A search of the Satinwood home resulted in another 23.5 kg of cocaine being seized, in addition to the three kilograms the man had in his possession, police said.

Insp. Josh Ewatski said the bust in St. Vital 'demonstrates how organized crime can operate within otherwise ordinary residential neighbourhoods.' (Abdellatif Izika/Radio-Canada)

Police also found about $750,000 in Canadian currency, a stun gun, prescription pills, drug packaging materials and other drug paraphernalia, Ewatski said.

The investigation “demonstrates how organized crime can operate within otherwise ordinary residential neighbourhoods," he said.

"A residence can become a distribution point for criminal networks using legitimate communities as a base for their operations.”

People are more likely to associate drug operations with neighbourhoods prone to violence, "but in reality, what we're seeing far too often, is that these operations are happening in any community within Winnipeg or even smaller communities," Ewatski said.

The man is charged with multiple drug- and firearm-related offences as well as possession of proceeds of property obtained by crime.

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The woman is charged with several drug-related offences as well as possession of proceeds of property obtained by crime, possession of a prohibited or restricted weapon and assault with a weapon against an intimate partner.

The drug seizure and arrests come five months after police announced the largest drug bust in Manitoba history.

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In that case, 33 people were arrested and more than $37.2 million worth of cocaine, meth and fentanyl was seized, along with guns, cash and illegal cigarettes, police said at a news conference in May. More than 525 kilograms of controlled substances were seized, with the majority confiscated in Winnipeg in late April.

In the past year, in partnership with police and government agencies in Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta and B.C., the Winnipeg police organized crime unit has seized almost 700 kilograms of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl, along with more than $1 million in cash, Ewatski said.

“That’s more than $20 million worth of illicit drugs meant for Winnipeg and surrounding communities, including northern and Indigenous communities, that will never hit the streets.”

Northern communities are particularly favoured by dealers "because that's where they can make two to three times more money than they can selling it in Winnipeg," Ewatski said.

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The cocaine in the latest bust was likely from Columbia or Mexico and came up to Canada in a variety of ways, he said.

Bulk quantities like what was found in the Satinwood home usually get shipped in commercial transport trucks, where the drugs are hidden, he said.

Darren Bernhardt has been with CBC Manitoba since 2009 and specializes in offbeat and local history stories. He is the author of two bestselling books: The Lesser Known: A History of Oddities from the Heart of the Continent, and Prairie Oddities: Punkinhead, Peculiar Gravity and More Lesser Known Histories.