Five people have been charged as part of a sustained police investigation into a drug trafficking network operating in northern Manitoba.

 

Project Darling was launched by the RCMP’s Manitoba Integrated Law Enforcement Team (MILET), which in January began investigating illegal drug shipments between Winnipeg and several northern communities – including Island Lake, Split Lake, Oxford House and Thompson.

 

The investigation led officers to a residential address on the 3000-block of Pembina Highway, in Winnipeg. On April 29, members of MILET North executed a search warrant at the address. Approximately $58,000 in cash was found inside the residence and was seized by officers.

 

Five people inside the residence were arrested.

 

Project Darling follows Project Derry, another MILET-led investigation that resulted in drug-trafficking related charges being laid late last year against 27 people across three Manitoba communities – the Bunibonibee Cree Nation, Winnipeg and Thompson. Project Darling’s investigation focused on the same criminal network.

 

“The success of Project Darling and Project Derry underscores the unrelenting determination of our officers to uncovering, impairing and dismantling a criminal organization that brings harm and violence to northern communities,” said RCMP Supt. Jeff Asmundson, who oversees MILET. “These efforts remain ongoing as part of our commitment to making Manitoba safer for all residents.”

 

Carlita Vasquez, 28, of Winnipeg has been charged with:

• Conspiracy to traffic a controlled substance;
• Trafficking a controlled substance; and
• Possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.

 

Natneal Arefaine, 26, of Calgary has been charged with:

• Possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000; and
• Failure to comply with a release order.

 

Three Ontario males – 24-year-old Ayub Abdi, 27-year-old Jabril Farah and 22-year-old Alex Keng – have been charged with possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.

 

Vasquez, Arefaine and Keng remain in custody. Abdi and Farah were released on an undertaking.