MANITOBA HEART OF METH RING

Police Say Ephedrine Channelled To B.C., U.S.

Manitoba was a key junction in an alleged multimillion-dollar pipeline that
channelled huge amounts of ephedrine to drug markets on the West Coast and
in the United States for the manufacture of the street drug crystal
methamphetamine, police said yesterday.

"Manitoba was the centre of distribution," RCMP Insp. Dennis McGuffin said
during a news conference at which stacks of cash and barrels full of
white-powdered ephedrine were put on display.

"We believe this was one of the major distribution networks in Canada, if
not all of North America."

The money and ephedrine were seized Wednesday in a series of lightning
raids in Winnipeg and Lac Du Bonnet, and in Alberta and British Columbia,
as well as in the United States.

Ten Manitobans have now been charged, including [NAMES DELETED].

All but one have been charged with conspiracy to produce methamphetamine.
The tenth, a resident of Stony Mountain, has been charged with five
weapons-related charges.

$14.5 million

McGuffin said 20,000 pounds (more than 9,000 kilograms) of ephedrine were
seized -- worth an estimated $14.5 million if converted into
methamphetamine -- along with $3.5 million in cash, mostly in 100s, 50s and
20s, in the cross-Canada raids. Two handguns were seized in Winnipeg and
two submachine-guns were seized in B.C.

McGuffin said police allege the ring smuggled enough ephedrine into the
U.S. to produce an estimated $100 million worth of methamphetamine in
clandestine drug labs a year.

Health Canada regulates the use of ephedrine in Canada, but its sale here
is not as tightly controlled as it is in the U.S., where people caught
possessing large amounts can go to jail for up to 20 years, according to
Jim Loring, a special agent with the American Drug Enforcement Agency.

McGuffin also said the alleged ring's business had evolved to the point
that it was moving ephedrine by the barrel.

For example, 16 barrels of the drug were intercepted by police in B.C. last
July, and a shipment of 200 kilos was uncovered near Buffalo, N.Y., hidden
in a trailer, that same month. Police also said yesterday they believe the
ephedrine was purchased from Thunder Bay, Ont., company Pumpuii Canada
Inc., which until recently sold ephedrine on its website. The company's
owner, [NAME DELETED], is among those charged.

From Thunder Bay, the ephedrine, in pill or powdered form, would be
transported to Winnipeg or Lac Du Bonnet and then shipped to Hanna, Alta.,
where it was repackaged to be shipped elsewhere in Canada and the U.S.,
police claim.

Hanna resident [NAME DELETED] is among those facing charges.

Police allege some of that ephedrine ended up in drug labs in the Vancouver
area, which produced methamphetamine for users in B.C. and Alberta.

Officers did not seize any methamphetamine in Manitoba, but say the market
here is still being established. The drugs of choice here remain cocaine,
crack cocaine and marijuana.

Increased use

RCMP Cpl. Kevin Lamontagne said police in Manitoba are seeing increased use
of methamphetamine, but to date no large-scale labs have been found in the
province.

"They establish the market first," he said. "Then the labs follow."

Federal Crown attorney Clyde Bond added yesterday that $2.7 million was
seized in a Winnipeg storage locker allegedly rented under Sokalski's name.
Sokalski is also one of the five named individuals that suspended Winnipeg
police Const. Bruce Huynen was ordered not to have contact with following
his release on bail Wednesday afternoon.

Huynen, 38, was arrested Wednesday morning at the same time police in
Canada and the United States conducted a series of simultaneous drug raids.

He has been charged with 14 criminal offences, including communicating with
targets of the ongoing undercover drug operation.

The 16-year police veteran, who worked in the gang unit from 1999 to 2003,
is also accused of running unauthorized computer searches and disclosing
the identity of a confidential police informant.

The Crown agreed to release all but five of the accused on strict bail
conditions yesterday, including a $25,000 surety.

The five who remain behind bars are [NAMES DELETED].

They will be back in court on Monday, where it is expected some, if not
all, will apply for bail.

Bond also said police intercepted more than 70,000 phone calls during the
seven-month undercover investigation.

There was also extensive video surveillance of the targets, he said. He
added Pumpuii Canada Inc. is in the process of being sold to an American
businessman for $1 million U.S. The businessman, who wasn't identified in
court yesterday, has also been arrested.

Proceeds-of-crime investigations are continuing -- police seized two Dodge
Vipers Wednesday -- and more charges or arrests could result, he said.