Three kilos of cocaine hidden in rear bumper

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This article was published 27/06/2020 (1959 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An investigation into an alleged cross-province drug-trafficking network that ships cocaine to Winnipeg has landed a Vancouver man in a Manitoba jail after police found drugs stashed in a rear bumper.

Police say an organized crime group routed “multiple kilograms” of cocaine from Vancouver to Calgary, Regina and finally Winnipeg.

The Winnipeg Police Service worked with departments in those cities and RCMP in Surrey, B.C., on the six-week investigation, which included arrests in Regina and an unnamed area in Manitoba outside of Winnipeg, WPS Insp. Max Waddell said Friday.

Logan Randall Pahl, 31, of Vancouver, was arrested by city police June 19. Waddell said the arrest was not the result of a traffic stop and Winnipeg police had “come into contact with the individual,” but, he would not elaborate.

After searching the vehicle Pahl was using, a 2018 Nissan Murano, police reported finding a hidden compartment that could only be revealed by activating it through a key fob. The concealed container was in the rear bumper.

“This particular concealment trap was definitely one of the more sophisticated ones I’ve seen in my career,” Waddell said.

Police were not specifically looking for the device when searching the car, and Waddell said the “extensive modifications” required to create it, including electrical, mechanical and body changes, took place in B.C.

Three kilograms of cocaine, with an estimated street value of $270,000, and $176,000 in cash, were seized.

Pahl has been charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking and possessing proceeds of property obtained by crime worth over $5,000. He is currently in custody.

The arrest comes after several in other provinces believed to be related to the same crime organization. On June 18, Regina police searched several residences, three vehicles and a storage locker, finding roughly one kg of what is believed to be cocaine, along with other drugs and paraphernalia.

Three people from Regina were arrested.

A related search warrant conducted the same day in Surrey resulted in RCMP seizing drug paraphernalia, 25 kg of a drug-cutting agent, 4.5 kg of cannabis and other cannabis products, body armour and $100,000 in cash. No arrests have been made.

While the investigation is ongoing, Waddell said there is no one from Winnipeg currently being investigated in relation to the case.

Waddell tied the case to restrictions placed on the Canadian border due to COVID-19.

“Over the past several months, I’ve been asked what impact the COVID pandemic has played on illicit drug trade,” he said. “With borders tightening, and restrictions on travel, drug couriers have had to resort to more elaborate means to transport illicit drugs.”

In May, WPS said the base price of cocaine in the city had jumped to $72,000/kg from $60,000/kg due to COVID-19-related border restrictions. At Friday’s news conference, Waddell estimated the street value of a kilogram of cocaine to be $90,000.

Officials said Winnipeg is a hot spot for interprovincial drug trafficking, partly due to the province being landlocked: while traffickers in other provinces can use mountainous areas or waterfront access, Winnipeg often has cocaine coming from other provinces.

Earlier this month, Manitoba RCMP announced they had seized methamphetamine and cocaine from a Tyndall Park residence in February, in collaboration with B.C. RCMP.

“The flow of illicit drugs has always been to the West Coast, or to the east through Toronto, so we’ve just seen that natural progression where clearly this cocaine is coming to the province of British Columbia, and it’s come across the Prairie provinces, and the destination point being Winnipeg,” Waddell said.

“We’re the centre of Canada, and it seems that from the West, it ends up here, and from the East, it ends up here. That’s really the flow for as long as I’ve been investigating these types of crimes. It’s been very consistent.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: malakabas_