ManitobaTwo men are charged with trafficking cocaine outside hotels near Winnipeg’s airport, where evacuees from the province’s northern wildfires are staying.Men, aged 18 and 21, arrested near hotels close to city’s airportCBC News · Posted: Jul 09, 2025 12:51 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoWinnipeg police Insp. Max Waddell says it is ‘disheartening’ that evacuees who were forced out of their homes by wildfires are exposed to the drug trade in Winnipeg. (CBC)Two men are charged with trafficking cocaine outside hotels near Winnipeg’s airport, where evacuees from the province’s northern wildfires are staying.On Sunday night, Winnipeg police officers responded to tips that dealers were focusing illegal activities around Wellington Avenue, between King Edward and Century streets.They watched several transactions take place from a passenger vehicle, police said in a Wednesday news release.Just before 9:30 p.m., the officers stopped the car a block away on Sargent Avenue and arrested the 18-year-old driver.During the arrest, they found $820 cash, three grams of cocaine and a cellphone used as a drug line, according to police.The driver is charged with trafficking cocaine, possessing proceeds of crime and breaching prior court orders.The second man, a 21-year-old passenger, is charged with trafficking cocaine and possessing proceeds of crime.Winnipeg police Insp. Max Waddell told reporters at a Wednesday news conference it is “disheartening” that evacuees who were forced out of their homes under stressful situations are exposed to the drug trade in Winnipeg.”Individuals coming in from these different centres may be very vulnerable” — for example, a person who has never been exposed to drugs before could develop a lifelong addiction, he said.”Sadly, we have a list of drug problems in the city … and when there is the demand for the drugs out there, that supply is always going to find that demand,” he said. Winnipeg police have received reports of similar incidents during previous evacuations, Waddell said.The two men charged this week are both from Winnipeg and are known to police.Since the start of the wildfire season, Winnipeg police have deployed additional resources to visit the centres where evacuees have been staying in the city, including hotels, to check on evacuees, said Waddell. With files from Felisha Adam and Santiago Arias Orozco
2 charged with trafficking cocaine near wildfire evacuation sites in Winnipeg
