Drugs and guns found in Portage residence during search warrant

Portage la Prairie RCMP seize drugs and guns during a search warrant which ends in multiple people being charged with several offences.

The Manitoba RCMP released a news report of the results of an ongoing investigation by the portage la Prairie General Investigative Section (GIS).

The report says that upon searching a residence on Mobile Street in Portage la Prairie on June 24, officers found drugs including methamphetamine, cocaine, crack cocaine, firearms, cash and drug-related paraphernalia. 

RCMP charged two individuals following the search warrant.

Tori Webb, a 28-year-old from Portage has been charged with:

• Possession for the purpose of trafficking x2
• Possession of property obtained by crime x2
• Unauthorized possession of a firearm x3
• Unlawfully producing a substance

Preston Whitford, a 27-year-old from the RM of Alonsa has been charged with:

• Possession of a controlled substance
• Possession for the purpose of trafficking x2
• Possession of property obtained by crime x2
• Possession of a firearm without a license x3
• Possession of a firearm while prohibited

Webb and Whitford were remanded into custody and were scheduled to appear in court yesterday, June 27, in Portage la Prairie.

The news release also states that officers returned to the residence later that evening to find the property owner but found an unregistered vehicle parked outside the house. In the driver's seat was a 31-year-old woman who was prohibited from driving, this led the officers to search the vehicle. A loaded sawed-off firearm was found underneath the driver's seat.

The woman was arrested and placed in custody for a court appearance scheduled for July 27 in Portage la Prairie. She was charged with:

• Careless storage of a firearm
• Unauthorized possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle
• Possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition
• Fail to comply with an undertaking

The property owner was also found and arrested on the scene during the search warrant. The 51-year-old man was released and is scheduled to appear in court on August 9 in Portage la Prairie.