Manitoba wants $500K in cash, 4 homes allegedly connected with drug-trafficking network forfeited

More than $500,000 in cash, four homes, a variety of jewelry and three gold bars are among allegedly crime-connected items the province wants forfeited in connection with a large drug-trafficking network bust, according to a new lawsuit.

In a statement of claim filed with Manitoba Court of King's Bench on April 4, the director of Manitoba's criminal property forfeiture unit asks for the surrender of a variety of alleged proceeds of crime that were seized from 10 individuals, two banks and two credit unions, all of whom are named as defendants in the claim.

The director also wants the forfeiture of four residences believed to have been involved in the trafficking network, including two Winnipeg homes and two located in West St. Paul.

The property forfeiture unit is also seeking the surrender of just over a half a million dollars in cash, in both Canadian and American currency, retrieved from the properties and safety deposit boxes at two Winnipeg credit unions and one bank in early February.

The lawsuit says all of the cash and property listed falls under the category of "proceeds of unlawful activity" or "instruments of unlawful activity" due to the connection with the alleged drug-trafficking network, and is therefore subject to forfeiture under Manitoba's Criminal Property Forfeiture Act.

None of the allegations in the claim have been proven in court, and a statement of defence hasn't been filed at this time.

Winnipeg police first announced the arrests of 10 people in connection with the alleged trafficking network at an early March press conference.

A string of shipments from Dubai to Winnipeg between June and September 2022 caught the attention of the Canadian Border Services Agency, who alerted Winnipeg police, the lawsuit says.

Opium had been detected on several rugs shipped into Winnipeg from Dubai, it alleges, leading to two joint investigations into an international drug trafficking network.

A Health Canada investigation found that carpet fibres from two of the shipments contained 5.7 kilograms of evaporated opium, according to the lawsuit.

Some rugs were addressed to a Winnipeg home on Sedona Crescent, near Keewatin Street in the Maples neighbourhood, and police were given permission to do a controlled delivery of the rugs last September.

A person answered the door, accepted the rugs, and brought them into the house, police previously said. Officers then executed a search warrant at the home and arrested a woman and two men.

Family-run trafficking network alleged

Last December, investigators alleged the father and partner of the woman arrested at the Sedona Crescent home were operating a drug-trafficking network.

The two men supplied mid-level traffickers with illegal drugs to be sold for profit, the lawsuit claims.

The father was occasionally seen with two individuals observed to have been exchanging illegal drugs for money throughout the city, it says.

The four homes the province wants forfeited were acquired with money that was directly or indirectly tied to crime, the lawsuit alleges.

The woman arrested jointly owned one of the homes with her partner.

A gun, three gold bars, drug packaging materials and powdered heroin, along with about 6.6 kilograms of black tar heroin, were among other items also retrieved from the homes during the investigation, the lawsuit claims.

"Score sheets" — documents detailing the amounts of drugs sold and money made or owed — were also retrieved, according to the lawsuit.

The heroin seized by police during the investigation has an estimated street value of over $1 million, the lawsuit said.