Thomaz Nataluk, 22, whom court heard yesterday was allegedly one of Manitoba's most significant cocaine dealers with ties to organized crime in B.C., was granted bail yesterday by Justice John Scurfield, who imposed strict conditions on the man.
"I'm taking a chance on you because you're a young man who had no criminal history prior to this," Scurfield told Nataluk in court. "You've got to be absolutely straight."
Crown prosecutor Chris Mainella accused Nataluk yesterday of being "the triple threat," as an alleged multi-kilogram level drug dealer, arms dealer and crack cooker.
Police arrested Nataluk last June following a dust-up on Broadway during which time he allegedly elbowed one cop in the forehead.
Cops found two one-kilogram bricks of 80% pure cocaine in his Jeep, as well as a $27,000, 18-karat gold Swiss Breitling watch on his wrist.
They also found more than $500,000 cash in his downtown apartment -- much of it in packaged bundles in the fridge next to normal food like chip dip and juice -- as well as 12 kg of powdered cocaine and crack in the suite next door, which Mainella called a "crack factory."
Some of the cocaine bricks found there were stamped with the same "2706" mark found on the two bricks recovered from the Jeep.
Also in the neighbouring suite was a gym bag containing 14 guns, including two M-11 9-mm compact submachine guns, often called MAC-11s. All the guns were vacuum sealed in plastic, which Mainella said is often a sign they were freshly smuggled into Canada. The Crown pegged the street value of the guns at between $18,000 and $23,000
Nataluk was charged with 62 offences, and at the time of his arrest, Winnipeg police said they could not remember officers in Manitoba ever seizing such a quantity of drugs, guns and cash all at once
No comments:
Post a Comment