DRUG RING BUSTED

Ex-Bomber Implicated In Nationwide Network

Former Winnipeg Blue Bombers lineman (Earthquake) Eddie Blake was one
of more than a dozen people arrested yesterday in connection with an
illegal international ephedrine distribution network. About 250 police
officers raided 34 homes and businesses across Canada in the
culmination of a massive undercover investigation dubbed Operation
Diversion.

Police say ephedrine -- one of the main ingredients used to
manufacture the illicit stimulant methamphetamine -- was being shipped
from a Thunder Bay business to Winnipeg, Lac du Bonnet and Hanna, Alta.

"The product was then redistributed to black markets in Vancouver,
Buffalo, N.Y., and Sacramento, Calif.," said RCMP spokesman Sgt. Steve
Colwell.

Nearly two dozen officers stormed Blake's 2,400-square-foot home at 98
Bethune Way in St. Vital shortly after 6:30 a.m. yesterday, neighbours
told The Sun.

One neighbour, who didn't want her name printed, said she awoke to the
sound of police taking a battering ram to Blake's front door.

She watched as Blake, clad in a track suit, and his wife, Manjit, were
taken away in handcuffs.

"He wasn't smiling. He was very serious," the neighbour recalled.

Cops scoured Blake's house with a dog yesterday looking for evidence.
They also searched a limousine parked in his driveway and a black
Cadillac with "PHATCAT" licence plates.

'JUST A JOKE'

Blake, a boxing promoter, recently sold Phat Daddy's Cabaret to start
up Flava 107.9, a radio station devoted to hip-hop and R & B music.

Blake's friend, boxer Mathias (Mad Dog) Hughes, told The Sun that
Blake has nothing to do with the alleged drug ring. "This is just a
joke," he said.

Police also raided Trans-Canada Fitness in Lac du Bonnet and Winnipeg,
as well as homes at 8 Stonegate Close in Whyte Ridge and 1105 Toshak
Rd. in West St. Paul.

>From the Whyte Ridge home, which was a rental property, officers
seized a 2004 Dodge Viper and a 1990 Dodge Viper, along with a Honda
Shadow 750 motorcycle, police said. From the West St. Paul home, cops
seized at least one Dodge Viper.

Neighbours said the owner moved into the home just three or four
months ago and immediately started a number of expensive renovations,
including installing a large paved driveway lined with Victorian-style
light standards, an iron gate flanked by two bison statues and a
backyard deck.

"What I knew of him he was a nice guy," said one neighbour.

In all, 16 searches were conducted in Manitoba.

Raids were also done in B.C., Alberta, Ontario and the United States.
Investigators seized an undisclosed quantity of ephedrine, cash and
firearms.

Details of the massive investigation will be released this afternoon
at a press conference.