COKE TRADE DEALT CRUSHING BLOW

Call it a blow to the Hells Angels.

Winnipeg police seized 10 kilograms of cocaine -- with a street value of
more than $1.3 million -- and arrested two men with Hells Angels ties
Friday afternoon in a record-setting bust that is expected to hurt the
outlaw motorcycle gang's control over the city's drug trade.

"It's going to be a temporary dent," drug unit Const. Dave Lysyk told The
Sun. "Not a long-term dent, but a dent nevertheless.

As part of what they would only refer to as "a fairly lengthy"
investigation, drug unit officers pulled over a GMC pickup about 12:30 p.m.
Friday as it entered the city on Portage Avenue near the Perimeter Highway.

During a search of the truck, cops found 10 one-kilogram bricks of coke
stashed inside a spare tire that was mounted on a rim underneath the vehicle.

The truck's two occupants -- a Hells Angels associate and another man --
were arrested.

Drug unit Sgt. Ken Shipley said the illegal shipment was destined for the
Winnipeg chapter of the Hells Angels from a Western Canadian location that
police refused to identify.

The monster haul is the largest cocaine bust Winnipeg police have ever made.

Vice division Insp. Stan Tataryn told The Sun the most recent bust
comparable to Friday's was in 1990, when police seized nine kilos of coke
linked to an Italian criminal organization.

Tataryn said the latest seizure sends a message to the Hells Angels that
police are watching them -- and that goes for the criminal organization's
associates, too.

"You fly with crows, you get shot down with crows -- even if you're a
pigeon," Tataryn added. "You want to associate with these people, you're
going to be arrested."

Kelvin Brent Asham, 37, of Springfield, and Barry Vaughan Hancock, 47, of
Dugald, were each charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of
trafficking.

The drug unit has recently been targeting middle-to high-level drug
traffickers.

It's a strategy that has resulted in the seizure this year of about 16
kilograms of cocaine -- roughly eight times as much coke as city cops
seized last year.

"We're very proud of this," Tataryn said. "For a police service drug unit
that doesn't have a whole lot of resources, we're doing a job that a lot of
services with a lot more money and resources haven't been able to do."