Man accused of drug trafficking, laundering cash through casinos

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This article was published 05/10/2023 (736 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RCMP have arrested a Winnipeg man accused of supplying large quantities of illicit drugs to remote, fly-in First Nations and trying to launder the cash at casinos.

Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries warned Mounties about “suspicious activity” at Winnipeg casinos shortly before organized crime investigators launched an investigation in October 2022 — dubbed Project DOOM — into an alleged drug trafficking network, the RCMP said Thursday.

Investigators allege Mohammad Riyadul Hoque, 30, of Winnipeg, was regularly supplying codeine pills, oxycodone pills, fentanyl and crack cocaine to the four remote First Nations communities on Island Lake.

The remote communities, accessible only by plane and ice road in the winter, are situated near each other in the province’s north, about 450 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

Island Lake Anishininew Okimawin Grand Chief Scott Harper — who represents the Red Sucker Lake, Garden Hill, Wasagamack and St. Theresa Point First Nations — said he’s pleased to hear of the arrest, but wants to see more done to hamper and prevent drug trafficking and resulting harms in the communities.

“We do have a lot of drugs that come into the community and we try to prevent it. … This is only one person, and there could be more. We need more preventative work, working with all levels of government and communities to see what we can do to prevent a lot of it from happening,” Harper said by phone on Thursday.

Manitoba RCMP spokeswoman Tara Seel would not get into the specifics of how the drugs were couriered to the community, citing investigational security, but said Mounties think Hoque was directing the drug supply as the head of a trafficking network.

She said at this point in the probe, Mounties don’t anticipate more arrests directly tied to the network, but was careful to note RCMP are still investigating drug trafficking in the region.

“We are having deadly illicit drugs going to remote communities,” Seel said, adding RCMP are concerned about the potential of fatal opioid overdoses. “That’s where the real concern lies — people are being victimized by the illicit activity here.”

Harper said he would like to see further accused traffickers caught.

“I hope (RCMP) continue doing the investigations and trying to find … others who are providing these drugs to the communities,” said the grand chief.

Harper said there were rumours concerning Hoque in the community for some time, before he was put into handcuffs.

“The sad thing is a lot of people knew about it. A lot of people knew his name. You know how it goes, it takes a while for the police to do the investigation — but I’m relieved that we got one person out, to stop bringing drugs out to our communities,” Harper said.

Earlier this year, St. Theresa Point First Nation was thrown into crisis following the deaths of two 14-year-old girls, which leaders feared were linked to illicit drugs flowing into the community.

RCMP said Thursday that Hoque also had connections to North Spirit Lake First Nation, a remote fly-in community in northwestern Ontario, which is to the southeast of the Island Lake region.

Hoque took the cash from drug sales to Winnipeg casinos to try to hide the cash’s connection to criminal activity, RCMP said.

“It’s not the first time we’ve encountered it, and I doubt it will be the last,” Seel said of attempts to launder money using casinos. “We work very closely with Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries and they have great systems in place to try to alert authorities … when suspicious activity starts to hit their radar.”

Hoque was arrested in Winnipeg on Sept. 19 and charged with trafficking fentanyl and cocaine, money laundering and the possession of proceeds of crime. He was released on a surety and is due in court next on Oct. 11.

RCMP investigators executed a warrant at his home in the Minto area of Winnipeg on the same day as his arrest, where they reportedly seized drugs and cash.

In total, RCMP said, investigators seized two vehicles, 498 grams of crack cocaine, 882 counterfeit Oxycontin tablets that were actually fentanyl, 241 Percocet tablets, 26 gabapentin tablets and 348 other unidentified pills.

Hoque has not been convicted of any offences in Manitoba in the past, court records show.

In addition to the charges laid by RCMP last month, he has charges pending on a handful of traffic act violations and one count of failure to stop at accident involving bodily harm, stemming from an alleged incident in July 2021, records show.

Seel said investigators worked with the liquor and lotteries Crown corporation, Winnipeg police and the federal anti-money laundering body, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre, on the complicated and wide-reaching probe.

An MLL spokesperson said the corporation is pleased with the arrest, and proud of the work its anti-money laundering team did to support the RCMP probe.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca