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Undercover sting operation used to charge Winnipeg police officer, Trent Milan before death: documents

Winnipeg police officer Trent Milan, 42, was the target of an undercover police sting.
Winnipeg police officer Trent Milan, 42, was the target of an undercover police sting. Obituary

WINNIPEG — A heavily redacted affidavit from a Winnipeg police detective reveals details about a lengthy investigation into officer Trent Milan’s conduct and behaviour, which eventually led to dozens of charges against him.

READ MORE: ‘This is a dark chapter for the Winnipeg Police Service’ as officer arrested for drug trafficking

In September 2016, Milan was charged with 36 criminal offences and new court documents show he was the target of an elaborate undercover sting investigation.

He died in a head-on collision in October.

The truck Trent Milan was allegedly driving before a head-on collision with a semi being towed from the scene of the crash. Brittany Greenslade / Global News
In a 43-page sworn affidavit from September 2016, Detective Ravi Misir details an intense undercover operation, dubbed an “integrity test” used to build a case against Milan, “to establish whether [he], if posed with the opportunity, will commit a crime and conceal his actions,” according to the documents.
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Global News obtained the affidavit Wednesday evening.

WATCH: Breaking down how heavily redacted 43 page affidavit from police in officer’s conduct and behavior

Click to play video: 'Breaking down how heavily redacted 43 page affidavit from police in officer’s conduct and behavior'
Breaking down how heavily redacted 43 page affidavit from police in officer’s conduct and behavior

It was part of an Information to Obtain a search warrant (ITO), provided by Misir. Police were looking to obtain a search warrant for Milan’s Oakbank home.

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The sting involved a faked vehicle theft, using a written-off car from Manitoba Public Insurance.

Detectives “placed several items in the reported stolen vehicle to make it appear as though it was property from a recent break and enter. These items included various electronics, jewelry, and $270 in Candian currency,” read part of Misir’s statement.

There was also a bag with another $300 and drugs in it.

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Police left the vehicle in an area of the city that Milan and his partner were working in. Both officers responded to a call to recover it and take its contents to police headquarters for processing.

Everything was accounted for except for the $300 that had been in the bag.

Police monitored both Milan and his partner in the coming days.

Four days later, police obtained a warrant for a “sneak and peek” into Milan’s work locker but were unable to find the missing $300, Misir stated in his affidavit.

RELATED: Winnipeg officer facing dozens of charges killed in head-on crash

While no cash was ever found, they did find a black case containing what appeared to be cocaine and methamphetamine which was determined to have a street value of $850.

“I believe it is reasonable, given the alleged history of Trent Milan, that he has stolen the $300 of bait money,” Misir said.

Police had been looking into Milan’s conduct for a number of years prior to the sting operation.

In December 2015, a police officer contacted the service’s professional standards unit saying he had information about Milan’s conduct.

Trent Milan’s home in Oakbank, Man. Zahra Premji / Global News

The officer, whose name is redacted, said four years prior, he had “discovered a quantity of various types of drugs in Milan’s personal property” while at the officer’s Oakbank, Man., home.

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“Sometime in 2011 while [redacted] was at Milan’s residence in Oakbank, Manitoba… he remembered Milan showing him [redacted],” the affidavit reads.
“Milan told him not to tell anyone [redacted.]”

Misir then writes that information brought forward by the member corroborated previous allegations against Milan.

Milan, 42, was arrested in September 2016 and accused of several offences including breach of trust, trafficking drugs, possessing a prohibited weapon and theft. The charges are for offences that are shown to date back to seven years to 2010.

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