Details of Operation Phoenix reveal drug trafficking network, use of drones to smuggle drugs in prison: Winnipeg police

The Winnipeg Police Service has arrested 12 people following an eight-month investigation that stretched across multiple provinces into alleged drugs and firearms trafficking that including using drones to smuggle drugs into prisons.

The investigation, dubbed Operation Phoenix, started in May 2021, which was originally focused on firearms smuggling.

“In response to the rising level of gun violence in the City of Winnipeg, the organized crime unit identified individuals believed to be involved in the trafficking of firearms,” said Insp. Elton Hall with the organized crime unit.

During the investigation, Hall noted the individuals were also trafficking large numbers of illicit drugs.

Hall said 12 people were arrested in various locations, including Winnipeg, Edmonton, Quebec, the United States, and the Greater Toronto Area. Winnipeg police received help from several agencies, including the Edmonton Police Service Gang Enforcement Unit, the Ontario Provincial Police Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau the RCMP Organized Crime Unit, ATF, Canada Border Services, the Correctional Services of Canada, and FINTRAC.

“I can say with 100 per cent certainty that the Winnipeg Police Service Organized Crime Unit and partnering agencies seized all known firearms before they were trafficked or while the firearms were in transit,” Hall said.

Police said two of the people arrested, one from Quebec and one from Ontario, face charges related to using drones to smuggle drugs and contraband into Stony Mountain Institution in Manitoba and Collins Bay Institution in Ontario. Items seized include methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, cannabis and contraband. The institutional value of the drugs and contraband seized at Stony Mountain Penitentiary is estimated at $700,000.

Hall said the suspects were using a “very sophisticated drone” to carry packages of contraband into the prisons.

“It seems like this is a professional job for these individuals,” he said, adding the investigation is ongoing.

Police executed 16 search warrants including four in Winnipeg, three in Anola, Manitoba, two at Stony Mountain Institution, four in Alberta, and three in the Greater Toronto Area. Officers seized the following:

• Six kilograms of fentanyl, with an estimated street value of $2.75 million;
• 30 kilograms of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $2.6 million;
• 15 kilograms of cocaine, with an estimated street value of $1.6 million;
• 100 kilograms of cannabis with an estimated street value of $500,000;
• Smaller amounts of heroin, ecstasy, and psilocybin with an estimated street value of $330,000;
• Approximately 40 firearms;
• One kilogram of cutting agent valued at $1,200; and
• 11 vehicles, four snowmobiles, three trailers, and a Bobcat with a total value of $381,000.

“The total street value of drugs seized is between $7 and $7.5 million,” Hall said. “And we estimate this in street values so people understand that the organized crime groups cartels and gangs are out between $7 and $7.5 million right now."

Police made the 12 arrests in the first two weeks of December 2021, and said six people have been officially charged:

• Matthew Cody Knysh, 30, of Winnipeg, was charged with 20 separate firearms offences;
• Mitchell Steven Lee Bruneau, 40, of Anola, MB., was charged with six firearms-related offences and four counts of conspiracy;
• Jason Dean Bigl, 20, of Winnipeg, was charged with possessing and trafficking in firearms and four counts of conspiracy;
• Stacy DeSantis, 25, of Quebec was charged with trafficking (controlled substance) and conspiracy;
• Mario Grosso 36, of Heritage Pointe, AB., was charged with trafficking (controlled substance), and conspiracy; and
• Joseph Louis Savino, 35, of Winnipeg, was charged with six firearms-related offences and trafficking (controlled substance).

The six charged remain in custody and the charges against them have not been proven in court.