Officers raid notorious drug house

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This article was published 07/01/2024 (608 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tactical officers raided a notorious drug house in the West End neighbourhood Saturday night, marking the second time in less than two months city police have targeted the home.

A spokesperson from the Winnipeg Police Service confirmed officers were on scene in the 500 block of Furby Street during the evening, but could not provide details about what prompted the raid, nor whether it resulted in arrests or the seizure of illicit drugs and weapons.

One witness who lives nearby said he watched from his window — and later from the street — as more than a dozen police units descended on the three-storey home at 575 Furby St., which he said has long been known to be a hotbed of criminal activity.

According to the witness, police arrived on scene with an armoured vehicle around 7 p.m. and stayed for more than two hours.

By Sunday morning, evidence of the raid remained in the form of shattered glass, a smashed front door and a spray-painted sign warning people not to enter the home.

Tire treads leading from the roadway onto the three-storey home’s front yard marked where police drove a tactical unit onto the property before officers dressed in helmets and black body armour shot non-lethal rounds through exterior windows, the witness said.

Roughly a dozen police cruisers and an ambulance were stationed nearby during the raid, and a police drone hovered above the property, he said.

The following day, the battered building attracted the attention of passersby, who stopped to assess the damage.

At one point, shortly before 11 a.m., two men dressed in hoodies approached the home and peered through the ajar door before disappearing into the property’s fenced backyard.

It is not uncommon to see people entering and exiting the building throughout the day and night, the witness said.

Police previously raided the home on Nov. 27.

According to a news release issued at the time, officers seized an assortment of drugs worth an estimated $74,440, $5,400 in cash, a loaded handgun and body armour from inside the home.

A 27-year-old woman was arrested and charged with a raft of weapons and drug-related charges, including four counts of possession of a scheduled substance for the purpose of trafficking.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca