Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 19, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A3 ................ ...... .......... .......... .......... .... ...... ........ .......... .............. .......... ................ .......... .... .. ...... ........ .......... ...... .......... .......................... ........ .... ...... .......... .................. .................. .............. .......... .................. ................ .... ................ .............. ........................ .......... ...... ...... .......... .............. .................. ................ .................. .............. ...... ........ .... .............................. ........ .............. .... ............ .......................... .......... .... ................ .............. ...... ........ .............. .............. ...... .... .......... .................. .......... .......... .................. .... ................................ ............ ................ .................... .......................... ........ ...... ...................... ...... ............ .............................. .................. .................... ............ .... ................ ...... ............ ...................... ................ ...... .......... ...... .......... ................ ...................... ...... .... .................... .......... .... .............................. ...... .. ...... ........ .......... ...... .......... .......................... ........ .... ...... .......... .................. ...... ................ .......................... .............. ...... ........ ............ ................ .................... .......................... ........ ...... ...................... ...... ............ ................ ...... ........ .... .......... ...... .......... ................ ...................... ...... .... .................... .......... ............ ............ ................ .......... .... ...... .............. .. ........ ........ ...................... ...... .... ............ ...... ........ ...................... .............. ...... .... ............ .......... ...... ........ ...... .... ...... .... .................. .......... .......... ........ ................ .... ........ .............. ................ ...... ........ .... ...................... .......... .................... .......... .......... ........ ...... ................ .................. .... .......... .............. .... ................ .................. .......... .............. .... ............ .... ...................... .............. ............ R I S K - F R E E C A R B U Y I N G . . . W E G U A R A N T E E I T ! $ 88 2014 CIVIC STARTING AT B/ W HONDA Mc P H I L L I P S 2610 McPhillips Street North of Leila 204- 284- 6632 CrownHonda. ca In The Waverley Auto Mall at Bishop Grandin 204- 261- 9580 WinnipegHonda. ca TheDilawriGroup. ca $ 148 2014 CR- V STARTING AT B/ W TOP NEWS WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2014 winnipegfreepress. com A 3 A convicted Manitoba child- killer who justice officials say poses a " grave" risk to public safety will not be released into the community pending his delayed deportation back to Africa. A federal court judge overturned a controversial decision by the Immigration and Refugee Board to free Beyan Clarke on the grounds his rights have been violated. That means Clarke will remain in custody indefinitely while justice officials work to secure his deportation. Clarke, 30, was convicted of manslaughter in the February 2006 death of two- year- old Alfred Sirleaf in Morden. Court was told the toddler suffered more than 100 injuries over a lengthy period. The cause of death was blunt trauma to the brain. The victim and his mother came to Canada only months earlier after escaping a refugee camp in Africa. Clarke admitted administering corporal punishment while living with the family in their new Canadian home. He pleaded guilty in 2008 and was sentenced to nine years behind bars. He was also hit with an automatic deportation order. He came to Canada in 2003 after fleeing war- torn Liberia. The deportation process couldn't begin until he was released on parole, which occurred last fall, at which point he was immediately taken into custody by the Canada Border Services Agency ( CBSA) pending his return to Liberia. His deportation has been stalled because Clarke argues his safety would be compromised if returned home due to the politically unstable environment. As well, CBSA officials must work on particulars with Liberia's government, which has been dragging out in the case. Since October, Clarke has appeared regularly before an Immigration and Refugee Board ( IRB) member for status updates. The CBSA has requested his continued detention, which was granted every time. Justice officials expected Clarke would continue in custody while they worked to finalize his deportation. That changed last month when an IRB adjudicator doing a monthly status update apparently ran out of patience and ruled the deportation process has been taking too long. Withnoendinsight, Clarkewasordered released on the grounds an " indefinite" detention is a breach of his rights. Federal justice officials filed an emergency motion in Federal Court seeking to stay the order. That move blocked Clarke's release. The Federal Court has overturned the IRB decision, making it a permanent detention. www. mikeoncrime. com Killer in custody until he's deported By Mike McIntyre I T is believed to be the largest, most elaborate undercover investigation ever tackled by Winnipeg police. Now details of how officers took down a multimillion- dollar drug- trafficking network last week have become public through hundreds of pages of court documents released Tuesday. The affidavits, which were used to obtain arrest warrants for 14 accused, document every step of the nearly two- year- long probe dubbed Project Sideshow. Among the more revealing details: . Police monitored and intercepted more than 300,000 separate communications - phone calls, texts and emails - between January and December 2013. Police say this number would have been much higher if not for the fact many of their targets relied on " encrypted communication devices. demonstrating their high level of sophistication." . Police began focusing on two different Winnipeg- based drug " cells" in the spring of 2012, but found plenty of crossover and interaction between them. One cell stretched west to British Columbia, while the other headed east to Ontario. Both are connected to Asian organized crime. . Police regularly observed multiple kilograms of cocaine being smuggled from Vancouver to Winnipeg, often hidden inside the luggage of trusted couriers. Police obtained warrants that allowed them to secretly search the luggage at airports, documenting the contents before allowing it to continue on its way. . Multiple kilograms of cocaine were frequently driven into Manitoba, both from B. C. and Ontario, and the drivers would use covert techniques to hide it inside the vehicle to avoid detection should they be stopped by police. . An apartment on Market Avenue in Winnipeg was used as a " stash house" for drugs and weapons. Police obtained warrants to allow them to " sneak and peek" inside the residence on several occasions to document what was happening inside there. . Police hid video cameras inside the homes and hotel rooms of several targets after getting legal authority to do so. . Police obtained production orders to look into the banking records of some accused. . Police obtained four tracking warrants, which allowed them to place devices on target vehicles to monitor their movements. . Six different automated teller machines were installed across the city by the accused as a means of laundering hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of proceeds of drug sales. It's clear technology played a vital role in the investigation, which culminated in 19 search warrants being executed last week in Manitoba and British Columbia. All 14 accused are now facing dozens of drug, weapons and conspiracy- related charges. In total, police say they documented 92 kg of cocaine with a street value of $ 5 million, 3 � kg of methamphetamine with a street value of $ 192,000, one kg of ecstasy with a street value of $ 20,000 and more than $ 4.3 million in cash believed to be from proceeds of drug sales. The actual amounts of drugs and cash exchanged are believed to far exceed the amounts observed, police say. Officers were only able to seize a small amount of what they saw, as they couldn't risk jeopardizing the investigation. In the documents released Tuesday, police provide a flowchart that shows the level of suspected involvement from all 14 accused and how they are linked to the two targeted cells. There are also itemized lists of drugs and weapons police observed and documented during the investigation. In previous covert sting operations such as this, the vast majority of accused end up striking deals to plead guilty, knowing fighting these air- tight cases at trial would be futile. Only time will tell if that's the end result of this case, which police say involved a greater volume of criminal activity and drug and weapons trafficking than anything they've previous seen. www. mikeoncrime. com Tech key to investigation Documents reveal details of police tactics By Mike McIntyre WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Staff Sgt. Rob Harding with some of the items seized as a result of the year- long Project Sideshow, which saw 14 people arrested. A_ 03_ Feb- 19- 14_ FP_ 01. indd A3 2/ 18/ 14 8: 55: 49 PM ;