RCMP arrest five more in connection to northern Manitoba drug-trafficking network

Five people are charged in what police have described as a “sustained police investigation” that uncovered a drug trafficking network operating in northern Manitoba.

Mounties launched a probe into illegal drug shipments in January, dubbing the investigation Project Darling. Investigators uncovered drug shipments between Winnipeg and several northern communities, including Island Lake, Split Lake, Oxford House and Thompson, Manitoba RCMP said in a news release Tuesday.

The investigation led officers to a home on the 3000 block of Pembina Highway, where officers executed a search warrant on April 29 and seized about $58,000 in cash.

Five people at the property were arrested. A 28-year-old woman from Winnipeg has been charged alongside a 26-year-old man from Calgary. Three men from Ontario, ages 22, 24 and 27 years old are have also been charged.

Project Darling comes on the heels of a similar operation called Project Derry, which resulted in charges related to drug trafficking against 27 people in Bunibonibee Cree Nation, Winnipeg and Thompson late last year.

Project Darling focused on the same criminal network, RCMP said.

The investigation is ongoing.