The RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police "E" Division headquarters in Surrey, B.C., on April 13, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
March 29, 2022 - 11:23 AM
WINNIPEG - RCMP in Manitoba say a Hells Angels member is among 22 people arrested after a four-year investigation into a Canada-wide operation that involved trafficking drugs and firearms.
Mounties say Project Divergent started in 2018 after officers noticed trends of international drug imports.
They say the RCMP and other police agencies were seeing large-volume transactions of cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl and assault-style firearms, and also discovered a connection with the Hells Angels.
RCMP say Damion Ryan, who is 41, was arrested in Ontario last month and is facing numerous charges related to firearms and drug trafficking.
They say he is a full-patch Hells Angels member for the motorcycle gang’s Attica chapter in Greece.
Mounties are also searching for two more suspects — 30-year-old Kieffer Michael Kramar from Winnipeg and 24-year-old Denis Ivziku from the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.
Police say Kramar could be anywhere in Canada, while Ivziku is believed to still be in the Lower Mainland area.
“This operation began right here in Manitoba and reached from Vancouver to Toronto, to Colombia, Greece and the United States,” Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy, commanding officer of the Manitoba RCMP, said in a statement Tuesday.
“The scope and success of Project Divergent was possible because of the tenacity of our investigators and the incredible and unfailing support of our partners. We could not have done this without them.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2022.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2022