Thirteen accused in gun, drug trafficking network in rural Manitoba

RCMP and Winkler police have arrested more than a dozen people allegedly connected to a drug-and-gun trafficking network that operated in rural Manitoba.

The joint investigation began in December 2024, when officers from the Winkler Police Service asked the Mounties for help after learning kilograms of cocaine were being imported to a Winkler-area truck repair business, said RCMP Supt. Jeff Asmundson, who oversees the force’s Manitoba integrated law enforcement team.

Mounties and Winkler police gathered evidence for 19 months and expanded the probe, dubbed Project Dolor, as investigators learned other types of illicit substances and firearms were being trafficked by the network in a number of southern Manitoba communities, said Asmundson, whose team investigates serious and organized crime.

“It started as a cocaine trafficking investigation, and obviously, as we move along in a project or a file, evidence is gathered and an opportunity arose and we wanted to ensure public safety,” he told reporters Tuesday. “We were able to secure some firearms.”

RCMP have identified 15 suspects, 13 of whom have been charged, mostly in the past month, as officers executed search warrants on homes and commercial properties in Winkler, the Rural Municipality of Stuartburn, Thornhill, La Riviere and McCreary. Most of the accused are from small communities across southern Manitoba, while a handful are from Winnipeg.

“It’s a sophisticated group with connections… there’s always connections higher than this,” said Asmundson, when asked about the scale of the network.

“But that being said, this group of people were working in concert with each other, supporting each other, trafficking back and forth with each other, and providing (these substances and firearms), putting it out on our streets in all our communities, large and small.”

At the news conference, held at Manitoba RCMP headquarters, the illicit goods seized from the accused were displayed.

Officers seized about eight kilograms of cocaine; 2.5 kg of psilocybin, commonly known as magic mushrooms; 13 restricted handguns, three of which had been illegally trafficked; 44 non-restricted firearms, many of which were stored unlawfully; thousands of rounds of ammunition; four vehicles — both passenger and commercial — worth about $110,000 combined; 228 cartons of untaxed tobacco; and $4,500 in cash.

Some of the drugs are suspected to have been brought in to Canada from the United States in commercial transport trucks.

RCMP displayed a photograph of officers raiding the Winkler-area truck repair shop, Highway 32 Truck Centre, at the media conference.

Two men listed online as the CEO and manager of the centre, 38-year-old Peter Harder and 36-year-old Jacob Harder, both of Winkler, are among those charged with firearms offences.

Some of the handguns appear to have been lawfully purchased in Canada, but illegally sold or improperly transferred, while others are suspected to have originated from the U.S.

The superintendent said RCMP are concerned traffickers are prepared to use firearms to protect their illicit scheme.

“Obviously, with the profits and the money involved and the risk, our concern is that any gun, but in particular handguns, are going to be used against each other in a rival situation or hurt others,” Asmundson said.

Although most of the accused were charged in the last month, one was picked up earlier in the investigation.

Tyler Thorvaldson, a 29-year-old from Carman, was pulled over on Highway 2 in mid-February.

RCMP said traffic officers found two kilograms of cocaine and a prohibited firearm in the vehicle.

Thorvaldson has been charged with 29 offences, including firearms and drug trafficking. He remains in custody.

RCMP described him as a mid- to high-level player in the network. Court records show he has no convictions in Manitoba.

All the accused have been arrested for drug trafficking or firearms-related offences.

The others are Clayton Sprung, 26, of Manitou; Matthew Hofer, 40, of La Riviere; Kelvin Loewen, 33, of Thornhill; David Penner, 47, of Stuartburn; Shawn Wiegner, 41, of Winnipeg; Jonathan Riberio, 31, of Winnipeg; Tyson Hofer, 42, of Morden; Joey Foidart, 46, of Notre Dame de Lourdes; Lillian Hutsell, 37, of McCreary; and Tristian Provinciano, 39, of Winnipeg.

Two other Winnipeg men, aged 38 and 35, were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to traffic cocaine, but have not yet been charged.

“This investigation remains very much ongoing,” said Asmundson. “More charges and more arrests are expected.”

The Winnipeg Police Service, the Morden Police Service, provincial justice officials, the Canada Revenue Agency and United States Homeland Security Investigations assisted in Project Dolor.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca