Man faces 89 charges after organized crime unit seizes guns, drugs

A man has been charged with 89 weapons and drug offences following a gun seizure earlier this month.

Winnipeg Police Service organized crime division Insp. Josh Ewatski said the investigation began in early May after it received reports of drug trafficking linked to a home in Winnipeg’s Central Park neighbourhood.

On May 7, officers executed a search warrant at a residence on the 300 block of Cumberland Avenue, where 21 loaded handguns were seized, as was a silencer, roughly 200 rounds of ammunition, 27 grams of cocaine, approximately $25,000 in cash, and a laptop and two cellphones.

Investigators also located evidence indicating that a gun had been fired from within the apartment suite and the round had struck a church across the street.

“By seizing these firearms, the organized crime unit members have prevented possibly numerous shootings, including homicides, not only in Winnipeg and Manitoba, but throughout Canada,” Ewatski said at a news conference Monday.

Jawad Miakhail, 24, was charged with numerous firearms and drug-related offences, including possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition, possession of a weapon, and careless storage of a firearm, ammunition, prohibited weapon or device.

The Winnipeg man was also charged with possession of a substance for the purpose of trafficking. Police say he was involved in trafficking cocaine to northern communities. Ewatski wouldn’t say which communities the drugs were destined for or whether the accused had already been to the communities.

Miakhail is known to police, but court records show he has no prior criminal convictions. He remains in custody.

Winnipeg police have seized 180 firearms so far this year. The city has also recorded six firearm-related homicides and 42 shootings — including 13 incidents where someone was struck by gunfire and 29 where shots were fired but no one was injured.

By comparison, police seized 756 firearms in 2025, while the city recorded nine firearm-related homicides and 93 shootings, including 34 incidents in which someone was shot.

Gun crime isn’t getting worse in the city, Ewatski said, but the firearms still pose a significant threat to public safety. Typically, people who are involved in organized crime are armed to protect their possessions, he said.

“So that will lead to shootings in public, where they’re putting people at risk of being shot, and not just the two parties that are shooting at each other,” Ewatski said.

Firearms are often circulated throughout the province after being brought over the U.S. border illegally. Police are investigating whether any of the seized guns are connected to other crimes.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca