On Thursday, November 1st Winnipeg Police presented a statement and a report about the recent victory on the crime-fighting field.
Winnipeg Police Chief Danny Smyth said a collaborative effort with RCMP, dubbed Project Riverbank, ended October 18th. Search warrants were executed at 16 locations resulting in 10 arrests and multiple seizures in Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton and the Greater Vancouver area. A total of 156 charges were laid against the suspects collectively, ranging from drug trafficking and conspiracy to firearms offenses.
This is one of the largest police operations against organized crime in Canada for the last couple of years. Six of the suspects were arrested in Winnipeg, one was in Edmonton and three were from Vancouver. Unfortunately, Winnipeg is still one of the centers for crime groups like this, a lot of local people involved in criminal activity, but surely all of them will be identified and arrested in the near future.
Smyth said the 10-month initiative across the western provinces resulted in a total of $2.7 million in cash and proceeds taken in. In Manitoba, $121,000 in cash was seized, as well as $845,500 in drugs and $404,500 in vehicles. All of this cash, vehicles, and property is obtained by crime and is seized by police for the investigation, which will hopefully lead to further arrests and will help in the fight with crime in our cities.
The value of items seized in B.C. totaled $250,000 in cash and $966,000 in vehicles, including a boat trailer, trucks, motorcycles and luxury cars. Saskatchewan values amounted to $72,000 in drugs, cash, and vehicles. Another $27,000 total value was seized in Alberta. All of that property will be worked on by the investigators and forensics for more evidence and after the investigation is closed, the property will be sold at the auction to raise funds for police and the equipment needed to upgrade the level of the existing one.
Police had put a lot of effort and people into this investigation, for the last couple of years crime level is on the rise in Canada and the situation demands more manpower and recourses to stop the increase of crime, to prevent new groups and organizations from occurring and committing the crime in Canada.