Seven Manitobans charged in fraudulent medical grow-op trafficking, money-laundering operation

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This article was published 05/12/2023 (703 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba man accused of using fraudulent licences to grow cannabis and sell it as a street drug also laundered illicit proceeds using cryptocurrency, Mounties allege.

RCMP have seized more than $6-million worth of illicit cannabis, equipment and proceeds of crime (as well as seven guns) since early June — the culmination of a two-year investigation in southern Manitoba.

James Robert McGirr, 39, was the focus of Project Decrypt, which was kick-started in April 2021 by a separate investigation into drug dealing, police said.

McGirr, from the Rural Municipality of Springfield, is accused of fraudulently obtaining a Health Canada licence for a micro-grow operation, selling the cannabis as a street drug, and using the cash to fund an extravagant lifestyle.

RCMP displayed seized luxury clothing and shoes, along with pistols, shotguns and computer equipment, at a news conference Tuesday in Winnipeg.

McGirr is also accused of using legitimate personal medical cannabis grow licences under the names of his co-accused and others who haven’t been charged to grow the product, RCMP intelligence officer Insp. Joe Telus said.

Mounties said the licensing ruse was to make the growing operations appear legitimate.

“Let me be clear: we are not targeting legal users of cannabis, we are not targeting legal growers of cannabis — we are targeting large-scale operations that are producing illicit product and feeding criminal networks that destroy lives, homes and communities,” Telus told reporters.

“The illegal sale of cannabis makes a lot of money.”

Police claim McGirr laundered his profits — and helped others launder proceeds of crime — by converting cash into cryptocurrency.

RCMP managed to stop the transfer or restrain about US$88,000 worth of cryptocurrency, an investigator said.

The investigation was sparked by another RCMP drug trafficking probe, Project Divergent, which led to the arrests of 22 people, including a Hells Angels member, before it concluded in March 2022. Mounties said they identified McGirr as an alleged member of a drug trafficking organization during the earlier probe and placed him under further investigation.

Ten properties associated with McGirr — seven in Winnipeg and one each in Springfield, Sunnyside and Navin — were searched by officers June 8. An eighth property in Winnipeg was searched in August.

McGirr was arrested at his home in Springfield and charged with several offences, including fraud over $5,000, identity fraud and laundering proceeds of crime.

The provincial director of criminal property forfeiture filed a lawsuit against a number of defendants in June — including McGirr, a legal cannabis company and a numbered company — seeking to seize three properties in Springfield where at least some of the alleged illicit cannabis grow ops were located.

The June court documents alleged the licensed cannabis operation was initially incorporated with McGirr as its director, but it was denied a commercial cannabis licence after McGirr didn’t pass a security clearance.

The corporation then named a new director (although McGirr still allegedly controlled the operation) and Health Canada granted it a licence in February, allowing the company to grow cannabis at one of the Springfield properties.

The lawsuit is still before the court.

Six additional suspects were arrested in Winnipeg.

Also charged are: Daniel Erenberg, 33, who police claim ran the medical grow operation; Jordan Fletcher, 33, of Ste. Anne, who allegedly worked as a courier; Jamar Smith, 42, of Winnipeg, who police allege was a grower for the medical licence grow-op; Brett Little, 33, of Winnipeg, who is accused of obtaining the Health Canada micro-grow licence; Raymond McGirr, 71, of Winnipeg, is charged with gun offences.

All accused have been released from custody with court dates.

One additional suspect has died since his arrest, said RCMP. His charges were stayed.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca