Forfeiture suit details RCMP cocaine probe

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This article was published 02/06/2024 (501 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Selkirk RCMP figure the two alleged cocaine dealers from southern Ontario drove to Manitoba to try to make money, but instead, it was the Mounties that made off with more than a quarter million dollars of cash.

Now, the province’s director of criminal forfeiture has filed a lawsuit asking the Court of King’s Bench to allow the Manitoba government to keep the $250,000 seized as part of the RCMP investigation.

The people named in the May 17 lawsuit, Jonathan Lawrence Yuzwak, 41, and Samantha Boone, 33, have been charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime for money laundering.

An affidavit in support of the lawsuit provides new details of the Mountie’s probe, dubbed “Project Distance,” first announced in April.

The investigation began in January and focused on a group of people believed to be dealing cocaine in Selkirk, Brokenhead Ojibway Nation and parts of northern Ontario.

The court documents suggest the Mounties were led to the cash by chance, when Yuzwak was spotted meeting with one of the individuals they were already after.

Among the people in the RCMP’s sights was Tyler Johnnie, 33, a Brokenhead man allegedly dealing out of a Selkirk house who officers were watching on April 4.

As Mounties followed Johnnie through Winnipeg, they watched him park near a Subway restaurant on Main Street and go inside. Another man — Yuzwak — carried a heavy grocery bag and met with Johnnie outside the sandwich shop before they got into Johnnie’s car together, Mounties allege.

Yuzwak got out a minute later as Mounties watched him place the grocery bag in Johnnie’s popped trunk, before Johnnie immediately left, as officers followed him back to the house in Selkirk.

Yuzwak, appearing to carry something heavy in his pocket, got into a rental car from London, Ont., near the Subway.

RCMP think it was a major drug deal, with Yuzwak walking away with a wad of cash.

Boone, Mounties allege, was scouting other vehicles and people in the parking lot to watch out as the deal was conducted.

RCMP followed Yuzwak and Boone in the rental car to a hotel on Regent Avenue West, where they checked in and took several bags inside over multiple trips. Mounties moved in and arrested Boone outside, where she expressed disbelief police had caught them, RCMP say.

Inside, officers went to the hotel room, where Yuzwak was allegedly counting and bundling cash on a desk, and arrested him.

Officers waited for search warrants to be sworn to search the hotel room, where they found cash, the Selkirk house, where they found cocaine, and the vehicles, where they found more cocaine.

In Selkirk, Mounties arrested Johnnie and Wesley Straight, 39, another Brokenhead man. Both were charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca