As cities across Canada continue to deal with the effects of guns and illicit drug use, Winnipeg police are investigating a possible link to the trucking industry and a new transportation hub.
“There might be a new passage into Canada,” said Insp. Elton Hall, the new head of the Winnipeg Police Service’s Guns and Gangs unit.
Although he can’t say for sure, Hall thinks the new passage might be CentrePort, a trimodal inland port and foreign trade zone that the company says is North America’s largest.
Hall said several years ago, firearms and illicit drugs typically came from the west coast, but he’s now noticed a new pattern.
“Now you’re seeing it a lot of this coming central into Winnipeg with this new CentrePort and it’s being distributed east and west,” he said.
When asked about this possibility, a spokesperson for CentrePort said because it is not a physical building through which goods pass, there isn’t centralized or perimeter security.
“CentrePort Canada Inc. doesn’t have authority on goods that pass through the inland port, rather the lands fall within both the City of Winnipeg and the RM of Rosser and as such is policed by both the RCMP and the City of Winnipeg,” the spokesperson said in an email.
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“We will continue to work collaboratively with both policing authorities where we are able.”
There are more than 800 companies at CentrePort and all shipments going through are cleared by the Canada Border Services Agency when they enter the country, the spokesperson added.
Terry Shaw, the executive director of the Manitoba Trucking Association, said he’s not aware of any illegal smuggling going on at CentrePort.
“These kinds of smuggling activities — not to say they’re not important, but they haven’t hit our association’s radar,” Shaw said.
Although he’s not aware of it, Shaw admits the trucking industry has bad actors just like other industries and it is possible that some drivers might be shipping more than what’s meant for store shelves.
“If our law enforcement partners … suspect that there may be that kind of activity in that area, we strongly encourage them to take action to investigate and if they find it, to shut it down.”
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