Trafficker got tips from Manitoba Finance official to avoid getting caught with illegal cigarettes: court doc

A Winnipeg man who led a drug trafficking ring used tips from a Manitoba Finance official to avoid getting caught with illegal cigarettes, and paid a security guard to hold a large amount of cocaine, a court document says.

Hue Ha was sentenced to 11 years in prison in November for orchestrating a drug trafficking and cigarette smuggling operation that swept up the Manitoba Finance official and a security guard at the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health. 

He was arrested as the result of an RCMP investigation dubbed Project Dawgpound, which began in May 2022 and led to over 20 arrests, along with the seizure of kilograms of drugs.

Part of the investigation involved placing a recording device in Ha's vehicle, which had a hidden compartment used to transport drugs and cash, according to an agreed upon statement of facts in Ha's case. 

During the course of their investigation, police learned that Ha was buying cocaine from his connections in Ontario to sell in Manitoba, either transporting himself using his vehicle or shipping it via FedEx, the court document says.

Ha then supplied other dealers in Winnipeg, as well as a number of remote and rural Manitoba communities, including Ashern, Poplar River and Norway House, through his connections.

He was arrested last December, when police stopped him on way back to Winnipeg from Toronto. At the time, they seized three kilograms of cocaine and more than $10,000 in cash. 

Information leaked on police enforcement: court doc

In addition to trafficking in cocaine, methamphetamine and oxycodone, Ha was also selling illegal cigarettes with the help of an investigator with Manitoba Finance who was leaking information about police enforcement plans, the statement of facts says.

Investigators learned this after intercepting one of Ha's calls, in which he was heard talking about bringing 50 to 60 boxes of cigarettes to Winnipeg from Ontario. 

"From the outset of these calls, it is clear that the organization is paying someone to advise them when there are investigations happening on the highway," the statement of facts says. 

To identify the source, police intentionally leaked information to investigators at Manitoba Finance about a recent seizure of 71 cases of unstamped cigarettes from couriers who were working for Ha. 

That revealed the source of the leak, after the investigator was heard on an intercepted call telling one of Ha's associates to get off the highway to avoid police, according to the statement of facts.

Donavon Sired — a member of the special investigations unit for Manitoba Finance, which typically investigates cigarette smuggling — was charged with bribery, breach of trust and conspiracy as a result of the investigation. His next court date is on Jan. 8, 2024. 

Guard exploited due to financial situation: lawyer

The investigation also led to the arrest of Amanda Boulanger, who was working as a Corps of Commissionaires guard at the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health — the complex in Winnipeg that's home to the federal Public Health Agency's National Microbiology Laboratory and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease.

Boulanger pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine, admitting that she held on to a backpack full of cocaine for Ha in November 2022 in exchange for $200. 

During her sentencing on Nov. 6, defence lawyer Jason Poettcker told the court Boulanger is a single mother who dealt with "a terrible amount of instability" in her life. 

Court heard that Boulanger had a traumatic upbringing and spent much of her childhood living in poverty, with her and her siblings often lacking enough food to eat. 

Poettcker argued that Ha had befriended Boulanger and exploited her when he realized she needed the money. 

"Ultimately, she made a bad choice because of that situation," he said. 

Boulanger received a two-year conditional sentence, which she will serve in the community. 

The 11-year prison sentence for Ha was a joint recommendation from his defence counsel, Kristen Jones, and federal Crown prosecutor Janna Hyman, which took Ha's heavy involvement with the trafficking operation into account. 

At Ha's sentencing, provincial court Judge Sandra Chapman remarked that it was a lengthy sentence for someone with no prior criminal record, but accepted the recommendation.

"When the cost of doing business is 11 years of your life, that's a significant cost," Chapman said.