Province suing accused Toronto drug trafficker to keep $240K seized during Thompson arrest

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This article was published 18/03/2025 (192 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government is suing two accused Toronto-area drug traffickers for just over $240,000 in cash seized during their arrest by RCMP in Thompson last year.

The arrests were part of an investigation involving multiple law enforcement agencies that targeted affiliates of a Toronto street gang accused of importing and trafficking cocaine across the country, including in northern Manitoba.

The investigation was launched and led by the Toronto Police Service’s gun and gang task force in 2023. In June last year, Manitoba RCMP announced officers had executed warrants and arrested four people for alleged cocaine trafficking in Thompson.

Toronto police dubbed the investigation Project Foxxx and said it targeted members of the Jamestown Crips, a street gang in that city, who were involved in illegally possessing firearms.

In August, Toronto police announced 32 arrests, including the four in Thompson.

Manitoba RCMP arrested Juqjuan Darling of Mississauga and Nathaniel Evans of Toronto — along with John Mifflin and a 32-year-old woman, both from Thompson, for possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Mounties said at the time officers had seized a small quantity of crack cocaine, cellphones and drug paraphernalia — along with $240,390 in cash.

The provincial government’s civil forfeiture director is now suing Darling and another accused member of the operation, Ho-Wayne Walker, to retain that cash as the proceeds of crime. The statement of claim, filed in February, indicates RCMP got involved in the investigation in May 2024.

“The investigation focused on a group of individuals who were importing cocaine from Ontario into Thompson… and then trafficking the cocaine upon its arrival in Manitoba,” reads the claim.

RCMP identified Darling, who’s currently awaiting trial in a Toronto jail, as one of the men allegedly dealing the cocaine once it arrived to Manitoba.

The court filing alleges Darling used his residence on Princeton Drive in Thompson — where the cash was seized — to store and distribute the cocaine. Walker had previously lived at that address.

On June 28 last year, RCMP were tipped to locate and follow a rented Hyundai that was travelling from Winnipeg to Thompson.

Officers followed from the provincial capital before pulling the vehicle over on the outskirts of Thompson. A GPS map application on a cellphone in the vehicle was keyed in to the Princeton Drive address.

Mounties determined a passenger in the vehicle was Darling’s girlfriend, who RCMP allege sent Snapchat messages to alert drug-trafficking partners just before her arrest.

Later that day, RCMP raided the house on Princeton Drive. RCMP found evidence cocaine had been flushed down the toilet, along with empty cocaine packaging.

Toronto police said the operation used Canada Post to distribute drugs, concealed in other items sent through the mail.

Last week, Winnipeg police released details of another alleged Ontario-based drug trafficking organization that had been busted in Manitoba.

City police alleged the illicit drugs were transported from Ontario to Winnipeg and distributed throughout the province, including in Portage la Prairie, The Pas, Thompson and several First Nations communities — Sandy Bay, Tataskweyak, Norway House and Nelson House.

That group transported the drugs via airplanes, trains, off-road vehicles, boats, the mail service and vehicles with custom-made hidden compartments, police said.

Winnipeg police arrested nine people, while five remain at large, and seized illicit drugs and cash while executing search warrants in Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan earlier this year.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca