Judge sends former bagel shop owner involved in drug ring to prison for 51 months

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/02/2025 (276 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The former owner of a Winnipeg bagel shop has been sentenced to 51 months in prison after he started making dough in the city’s illegal drug trade.

Chris Silva, 49, co-owner of Hudson Bagels on Sherbrook Street, pleaded guilty last summer to one count of possessing cash obtained by crime.

Silva was arrested in December 2022 following an 18-month Winnipeg Police Service organized crime probe into a drug network with interprovincial connections.

Additional charges of trafficking a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking were stayed by the Crown.

The investigation, dubbed Project Onyx, netted the arrest of 13 people and seizure of 50 kilograms of cocaine, 20 kg of methamphetamine, smaller quantities of other illicit drugs, handguns, 12 vehicles and $500,000 in cash.

At a sentencing hearing Wednesday, defence lawyer Erich Wach described Silva as a hard-working father of two driven by an “entrepreneurial spirit.”

“You chose the wrong business,” King’s Bench Justice Shauna McCarthy told Silva. “I can’t imagine how you would feel if someone tried to push drugs on your children.

“It is clear you were significantly involved… and at this for some time. This isn’t something you just dipped your toe in.”

Silva apologized for the “hurt and pain” he caused his family and community.

“Giving back to the community is what I truly want to do,” he said. “That is my purpose.”

Silva’s involvement in the drug network was detailed in an agreed statement of facts provided to court.

Court heard investigators learned in the summer of 2021 of a high-level drug network run by two Manitoba men, Biniam Fitur and alleged co-accused Devon Creary, who were overseeing a group of drug traffickers and importing large amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine into the province.

Fitur pleaded guilty last April to trafficking a controlled substance and was sentenced to eight years in prison. Creary is charged with the same offence and remains before the court.

During the course of the lengthy investigation, police intercepted communications in homes and vehicles and covertly entered homes and vehicles to install video surveillance equipment and search luggage.

Silva came to police attention when a vehicle registered in his name was spotted at a meeting with Fitur at Deacon’s Corner in July 2022. The vehicle was again spotted at a meeting with Fitur at the Southdale Mall in Winnipeg in October 2022.

In November 2022, police saw Fitur leave his home carrying a black gift bag — which investigators had previously searched without his knowledge by covertly entering his home — that contained about $40,000 in cash.

Fitur met with Silva at the mall and gave him the bag; investigators followed Silva home to confirm his identity.

In early December 2022, Silva again got cash from Fitur, then shipped a package to British Columbia under a false name, which was found to contain about $95,000.

Silva was arrested Dec. 14, 2022, the same day police found two kilos of cocaine in his garage, as well as $16,000 cash and score sheets used to tally how much money or drugs he was owed.

Evidence seized from Silva’s home and through surveillance show Silva “was an important part of (the drug network) and handled significant amounts of cash for the organization,” Crown attorney Kirsty Elgert told court.

The 51-month sentence was jointly recommended by the Crown and defence in a plea bargain that took into account a likely defence challenge of the warrant to search Silva’s home, had the case gone to trial, Elgert said.

McCarthy agreed to the recommendation, saying it was “perhaps on the low end, but I don’t know all the ins and outs that went into negotiations.”

McCarthy ordered that $7,200 seized from Silva’s home be forfeited to the province and that the balance of the seized cash be returned to Silva through his lawyer.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca