Police seize cocaine valued at $1.5M, about $750K in cash in raid on St. Vital house

A St. Vital homeowner and her husband were going about their business during an afternoon last month when police officers in tactical gear suddenly appeared, walking across their front lawn.

The target was a few doors down: a maroon bi-level home on a quiet stretch of Satinwood Place, within earshot of children playing outside at a nearby school.

The homeowner, who asked not to be named to protect their privacy, said the police presence caught the couple by surprise in the Southglen neighbourhood, where they weren’t accustomed to seeing that kind of activity.

“We never heard the (police) cars pull up, but there were cars blocking the entrance to the street from both sides,” said the neighbour. “They had a shield, a battering ram — everything. Just not used to seeing that.”

What was unfolding nearby was a major drug bust.

The Winnipeg Police Service said Tuesday that an organized crime unit investigation targeting the home resulted in the seizure of more than 26 kilograms of cocaine, which police valued at approximately $1.5 million, along with roughly $750,000 in cash.

Police said officers arrested a man leaving the residence on Sept. 17 with three kilograms of cocaine. A woman was arrested at an unrelated address.

Officers later executed a search warrant at the Satinwood Place home with help from the tactical support unit.

Inside, police said they seized another 23.5 kilograms of cocaine, approximately $750,000 in cash, a conducted-energy weapon, prescription pills, a vacuum sealer and drug-packaging materials and other related items.

Haleel Jamal Hidara, 40, and Samantha Darcy Gunn, 32, each face several drug, proceeds-of-crime and weapons charges. Gunn was also charged with assault with a weapon against an intimate partner.

Both were detained in custody.

“This investigation in Southglen demonstrates how organized crime can operate within otherwise ordinary residential neighbourhoods,” said WPS Insp. Josh Ewatski.

“Residences can become a distribution point for criminal networks using legitimate communities as a base for their operations. The results represent a significant disruption to a criminal operation and potentially prevents further violence and harm in our community.”

A man at the home that was raided declined to speak to the Free Press on Tuesday.

The neighbour who witnessed tactical officers swarm the nearby home said Hidara had been in the neighbourhood for several years, but traffic really began picking up in the last year.

“My husband and I were getting fed up with all the cars coming by… you knew what was going on,” she said. “The cars would park, someone would be on their cellphone, and then (Hidara) would come out and the cars would eventually leave.”

The neighbour said everyone on the street knew what was going on.

Ewatski said residents often see activity that may appear unusual. Frequent short-term visitors, suspicious vehicles, weapons or activity associated with drug dealing. He added that information provided to police can help identify the operations before they cause further harm, but could not comment on whether reports from neighbours tipped off police in this case.

“It was uneasy at times, because there would also be people pulling up in the back lane,” she said.

Another set of neighbours, who also asked not to be named to protect their privacy, said they’d often see another woman around. They identified her as Gunn, the woman arrested. They said that Hidara and Gunn had young twins. The Free Press could not independently verify the connection between the two suspects, and police would say only that they knew each other.

The neighbours said that Hidara’s brother has been at the house in recent days, trying to clean it up. The house has several cameras affixed to the front of it, and some mounted in trees.

“He’s cleaning it up for a change… it’s a mess,” the neighbour said. “And now there’s a lot more parking on the street.”

Meanwhile, Ewatski couldn’t say where the cocaine was headed, but noted large quantities of drugs in the city could be destined for northern communities, where dealers can make two to three times more money than they can selling it in Winnipeg.

“I would say that this is a significant disruption to the drug supply that’s in the city,” he said. “Unfortunately, what we’re seeing is it’s not a lasting disruption because of the amount of drugs that do come into Winnipeg and to Manitoba. But when we have a seizure that’s a size like this, it definitely disrupts the availability of drugs on the streets for a time. But then it’s eventually made up for.”

scott.billeck@winnipegfreepress.com