A Niverville man has been arrested for his alleged involvement with a high-level Manitoba-based drug network.
Twenty-eight-year-old Mouneer Mahboub Mohamed is one of 13 people who have been arrested in recent months as the result of a Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) operation called Project Onyx.
Among the items seized by law enforcement are 50 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated street value of $5 million, 20 kilograms of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $2 million, approximately $500,000 in cash, and a variety of semi-automatic handguns with magazines and ammunition.
Twelve vehicles were also confiscated with an estimated total value of $550,000, including BMWs and Mercedes-Benz.
At this point, the WPS is still reviewing the possible seizure of several properties.
Mohamed faces seven charges related to drug and firearm possession and trafficking. The other 12 arrested, ranging in age from 24 and 59, each face fewer charges than Mohamed.
While the majority of those charged were residents of Winnipeg, one male from Coquitlam, British Columbia has been charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and a Toronto man has been charged with a variety of possession and conspiracy-related offences.
A 39-year-old male from Springfield, Manitoba was also charged with trafficking in a scheduled substance.
Project Onyx
Inspector Elton Hall of the WPS Major Crimes Division says that the organized crime unit first identified a number of individuals who were involved in high-level interprovincial drug trafficking in the fall of 2021.
By the following spring, resources were thrown into a formal investigation. It was soon determined that a network of individuals were overseeing the import of large quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA from Ontario and British Columbia.
Along with the WPS, Project Onyx was the result of a collaboration with many investigative agencies such as Canada Border Services, the Manitoba Criminal Intelligence Centre, the Manitoba RCMP, the Ontario Provincial Police, and the Vancouver Police Strike Force Unit.
“[It was] discovered that the drug network used various methods of importation, some of which include commercial shipping companies and multi-highway-based interprovincial drug couriers,” says Hall. “Investigators and assisting agencies monitored hundreds of thousands of dollars of currency being shipped and transferred through shipping companies and businesses by people using disguised identities.”
On December 14, 2022, law enforcement personnel executed a total of 26 search warrants at locations in Niverville, Winnipeg, and Coquitlam. The locations included two businesses: Hudson Bagel on Sherbrook Street and an automotive repair shop, the name of which has not yet been disclosed.
On January 31 of this year, a drug courier, travelling from the greater Toronto area to Winnipeg, was arrested after police found them with several kilograms of cocaine in their possession.
Hall says that drugs were found in a concealed compartment which utilized an elaborate hydraulic system with hidden access.
Four of the seized handguns were wrapped inside the packages of drugs being transported. For Hall and his crew, this was a first.
Also a first for the team was the green colour of the meth, something Hall had no explanation for.
The many packages of cocaine in transport were wrapped in black plastic, reminiscent of drugs coming in from Mexico—a detail that Hall finds concerning.
In terms of the magnitude of this seizure, Hall says that the significance for law enforcement officials has more to do with the individuals in custody than the quantity of drugs or firearms confiscated.
Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen was on hand for WPS’s press briefing on February 17. He thanked the WPS and other agencies for the difficult and dangerous work they perform on a routine basis, bringing criminals to justice.
The Manitoba Criminal Intelligence Centre, he says, was instrumental in making it possible by providing $250,000 to help fund the operation.
“Every one of us know the high cost of addiction to elicit drugs like those before you,” Goertzen said of the stacks of contraband on display at the briefing. “That cost is not measured always in dollars. It is measured in lost lives, broken families, and broken hearts that we hear about and we see every day.”