50-year-old Donovan Sired an investigator with the Manitoba Finance Special Investigations Unit is facing bribery, breach of trust and conspiracy charges as part of an ongoing investigation into drug trafficking in the province.

RCMP began Project Dawgpound in May of 2022, in an effort to disrupt the drug trafficking network of a Winnipeg target.

According to police, investigators identified a multi-kilo, multi-commodity trafficker operating out of Winnipeg. 36-year-old Hue Ha was identified as the person responsible for bringing in large amounts of cocaine into Manitoba from Ontario. Officers believed that Ha or his designate would often go to Ontario to bring back the drugs and unstamped cigarettes.

Ha’s network reached several communities in Manitoba including Winnipeg, Brandon, Poplar River, St. Laurent, Ashern, Fairford, and Gypsumville. Outside of the province, the network reached into Vancouver BC; Calgary AB; Pickering, Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area ON; Moncton, NB; and Prince Edward Island.

As the investigation unfolded it became apparent to investigators that Ha had information about police enforcement plans. Investigators were able to locate the leak to a specific investigator and laid charges for his alleged involvement.

Ha and twenty other people were arrested and charged in connection to the investigation including a guard at the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health in Winnipeg.

Police seized various drugs, including 7.8 kilograms of cocaine, 327 tablets of MDMA, 13.82 kilograms of crystal MDMA, 116 grams of purple down, 139.45 grams of carfentanil, 2.06 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, and 5 kilograms of psilcocybin (mushrooms). Investigators also seized 19 firearms, vehicles, electronic devices, a large amount of drug trafficking paraphernalia, and Crazy Indians gang patches. The contraband cigarette portion of the operation would have yielded the Manitoba taxpayer $1.47 million in tax revenue.

“Project Dawgpound yielded fantastic results and got a kilo-level trafficker and his network off the streets,” said Inspector Grant Stephen, Officer in Charge of Federal, Serious and Organized Crime for the Manitoba RCMP. “We will continue to enforce against the illegal drug trade and disrupt networks that often lead to or are connected with organized crime in the interest of creating a safer Manitoba and a safer Canada.”