RCMP arrest nine, dismantle cross-province drug ring

Mounties have dismantled an interprovincial drug pipeline, arresting nine suspects—including three Manitobans, several Toronto residents with prolific criminal records.

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Mounties have dismantled an interprovincial drug pipeline, arresting nine suspects—including three Manitobans, several Toronto residents with prolific criminal records, a U.S. citizen from North Carolina, and a man wanted for murder.

At a Wednesday press conference, officials from the RCMP, Winnipeg Police Service, and Manitoba First Nations Police detailed a sweeping investigation that shut down an interprovincial drug trafficking network.

As part of their announcement, they also offered a list of arrested individuals, including several notorious criminals—among them, a suspect wanted on a first-degree murder charge.

The Winnipeg Police Service’s “Project Lowkey,” launched in Apr. 2024, involved nearly a dozen searches across Ontario, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The operation resulted in the seizure of weapons, various drugs, vehicles, and cash.

While the RCMP said the crime ring was “interprovincial” in nature, they noted that a First Nation territory outside of Winnipeg served as an essential “hub” for the illegal activity.

The operation led to nine arrests and a multitude of serious criminal charges.

DeShawn Whyte, 22, of Brampton, Ont. was arrested last summer after police allegedly found 771 grams of crack cocaine at a house located in a different Manitoba First Nation territory.

Omar Omar Isse, 25, was arrested last spring in Prince Albert, Sask. for allegedly possessing 97 grams of cocaine and a .40 Glock handgun.

Nisar Hashimi, 35, from Toronto, Ont. had previously pleaded guilty to charges related to the 2013 murder of Anthony Smith, a 21-year-old Etobicoke gang member who was infamously photographed with Mayor Rob Ford outside a reputed local crack house.

Jabreel Elmni, 30, also from Toronto, was already wanted by police on a first-degree murder charge for his alleged involvement in a 2021 Toronto triple shooting that left a 27-year-old man dead. He was discovered at a home in Saskatoon while police exercised a search warrant last month.

Meanwhile in Winnipeg, Mohamed Abduikadir, 25, appears to have a prior second-degree murder charge on record relating to the deadly shooting of a 42-year-old man in 2019.

RCMP also said one of the arrested was an “American citizen from North Carolina,” with Tsulasti Lunch identified as the lone U.S. citizen.

The accused criminals appeared to cooperate across multiple provinces and jurisdictions but so too did the police, according to the RCMP’s Wednesday announcement.

The project involved multiple provinces and levels of government—a probe into what police say is a high-level drug trafficking group in Winnipeg as well as central and northern Manitoba, with connections to Toronto, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Newfoundland, and Yukon.

Police say the accused transported the drugs and weapons across multiple boundaries by vehicle, chartered bus, shipped parcels, boats, and commercial airlines, using fraudulent identification documents to evade detection.

“They were able to acquire numerous forms of fraudulent documentation in order to be able to travel—commercially—with large amounts of drugs, including one who was also wanted for first degree murder,” said RCMP Insp. Josh Ewateski.

Manitoba Minister of Justice Matt Wiebe also spoke on the seizures and arrests, linking them to the Canadian government’s ramped up efforts at “the international border,” ostensibly in response to demands from U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Now that this is something the federal government has shown this is something they’re interested in—with fentanyl specifically—from our perspective in Manitoba that means going after organized crime,” Wiebe said during Wednesday’s announcement.

Although the project turned up empty for fentanyl, authorities in three provinces managed to secure a stockpile of other contraband that included twenty-five thousand hydromorphone pills, over ten kilograms of cocaine, several ounces of crack cocaine, over eight kilograms of methamphetamine, twenty-five thousand hydromorphone pills, MDMA and seven loaded handguns.