Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 30, 1996, Winnipeg, Manitoba 18 free went to sum informant in hiding prosecutor a sworn statement by the ramp says a Man who stands to earn of taxpayers Money for his role in the arrests of six people on liquor and tobacco charges is himself a an affidavit filed by the mounties says in the months before they agreed to put him on their John Melvin Mckay admitted to offi cers he had been personally involved in smuggling for the past 10 the affidavit also says Mckay described in detail for police How a North Dakota bar owner would trans port Large amounts of liquor to isolated Fields South of the where smugglers from South Ern Manitoba would pick it from the Canadian smugglers would slip across the Border in Alker rain vehicles or trucks and drive the loads Back into Canada through makeshift Crossings they had developed Over the the affidavit accounts the mounties say Mckay told them the smugglers would pay the bar owner by depositing Money into two accounts he had set up in Banks in Morden and la the bar owner was not arrested during operation but the ramp affidavit said he has outstand ing charges against him dating Back to 1989 for smuggling liquor into Canada and evading tax also according to the Mckay told the ramp he was paid a Load for according to ramp documents related to the was convicted in 1980 of driving while disqualified and impaired driving and in 1987 of two counts of posses Sion of illegally imported goods and one count of Possession of a beyond his criminal there is Little publicly known about Joe one of the people says Mckay is in his lived much of his life in the Snowflake area and worked for a time on a natural Gas Clyde head of the Federal prosecutors handling the decode suspects amylose everything informant May refused to release Mckay current whereabouts or any other personal he said his safety in jeopardy and that Mckay has gone into self imposed Keith head of the mounties economic crime also refused to disclose Mckay whereabouts or pass of an interview request to As part of his agreement with the Mckay agreed the ramp would provide him with no relocation or protective even though police arrest smug gling suspect Joe Lyne left last year after a sting opera a Inary hearing on the charges has yet to be at an officer puts away Evi Dence obtained Dur ing both parties agreed there is a degree of risk related to my involve ment in this recruited Lyne says friends have reported seeing Mckay in the Snowflake area since the suggesting Mckay is not Overly concerned about according to ramp documents related to operation Mckay was first recruited to work on the project in january investigators made the approach ing Mckay had been and reliable police informant going Back to the documents Lyne says the initial Tipoff about smuggling in the came from a different the documents say after he and officers met several times Over the ensuing Mckay was formally put on the mountie payroll on May when he and two mounties signed a letter of acknowledgement Outlin ing his responsibilities in the invest and How and How much he would be through the summer of working closely alongside the made several Small purchases of illegal liquor from Vari Ous targets in the investigation whom he had known personally Over the the documents those Small purchases set the stage for the big buy that ultimately brought the ring according to an ramp Mckay ordered 150 cases of liquor and what turned out to be so cases of tobacco on 24 from on Mckay Rode in the Pas Senger seat of a rented truck to take delivery of the Load seated beside him in the Drivers seat was an undercover mountie and when the Back door of the truck was swung open to begin loading up the four More out and arrested what the mounties got for taxpayers Cash heres what the ramp have received or Hope to their Deal with John Melvin completed seizures litre bottles of smuggled Rye and Vodka estimated value 20gram pouches of tobacco estimated value two no estimated value convictions Richard in november 1995 to 14 months for three charges under the customs act and Possession of an unregistered served four Melvin Wesley guilty june 13 to one charge under the customs fined and forfeited another Over seized by the ramp returned to four other customs charges Marlene charges under Cus Toms act pending of a preliminary hearing for Joe and his is set for next time has been set aside next june for a trl auf one is Joe Lyne is facing 14 charges under the customs and excise Jody is facing 11 charges under the same Armand will go to trial in january on 40 charges under the customs and excise proceeds of crime suits also have been launched against Levreault and Joe the ramp Are ask ing the courts to turn Over farm prop machinery and even a Lyne and Levreault both maintain the goods in question were purchased with farm ramp officer keeps Eye on Load of seized s hat spent the last 30 Yean of his life building up a family farm to leave behind for his but charges relating to 150 eases of smuggled liquor Are now threat Eftihia to Wash it tractors and the ramp who arrested Lyne and five others last onto Ber have secured a restraint order on Lynes assets and signalled their intention settee virtually everything the 52 year old Farmer owns As proceeds of Lyne estimates the value of the assets the mounties want to seize at and if they Suc the Farmer says it will wipe him if wed murdered wed be in less Lyne said in an interview at his Southwest of they really did a number on under the terms of the restraint Lyne is not allowed to sell anything the mounties identified in the order and must maintain it in the same condition As the Day the order was secured until the Case is heard in next own Money so Lyne is required to spend his own Money maintaining the farm and cattle with the possibility of them being some of his 90 for should have been shipped off for Slaughter months but because Lyne is prevented from Selling he is still feeding the mounties secured the restraint order against Lyne largely on the basis of state ments Lynes is alleged to have made to a paid police the mounties allege that there Are hundreds of thousands of dollars in smuggling profits accounted for Only by Lynes Lynes says Shes spent months digging through the family records and believes she can prove things the mounties want to seize were purchased with income earned on the farm since they bought it in the mounties see it differently and Are prepared to let a court Settle the Lyne Case As Well As a proceeds Case against another Farmer arrested in the alleged illegal liquor the other Farmer also stands to lose his when you drive a Chevy you wont Eod to worry about Tho what Hoff at this Price you wont need to worry about the payments smart use wifi Matt g aluminium All 7 ;