Police raid a Point Douglas 'drug house'

A Point Douglas home long seen as a "drug house" by police, neighbours, and a community crime watch group was raided Friday by the Winnipeg Police Service.

CBC News recorded video of police tactical squads and investigators entering a duplex at 108 Lorne Avenue Friday afternoon. 

Police later confirmed a warrant was executed in the 100 block of Lorne Avenue, but provided no further details about the incident.

However, Constable Jason Michalyshen said 108 Lorne has been attended to many times over the years for "drug problems."

Sel Burrows, with Citizens on Watch, a volunteer-program to address crime in the area, says it's the problem drug house that just won't go away.

"It just seems to be the one address that keeps popping up."

Burrows' tipster line called Power Line, has been providing police with what he calls information on suspicious activity about the home for years.

"What happens is people from all over the city come here," said Burrows. "They go in, go around to the back door, for 30 seconds to two minutes, they make their 'buy' and they leave."

Reporting of such activity has led to police busts on the home before.  A June 2010 drug raid at 108 Lorne, that resulted in an arrest of a man and the seizure of crack cocaine, relied on information from Power Line, according to warrant documents at the time.

Owner has history of drug trafficking

The duplex is owned by Sandra Guiboche, who bought it in 2002, according to land title records checked Friday. 

The landlord has several rental properties in Point Douglas.  Over the years, at least three of her homes, including 108 Lorne, have been raided by police for drugs.

Her nephews who were inside the house were later charged or convicted with drug trafficking and possession offences.

Guiboche herself is a former drug dealer, who once led a family-run "dial-a-crack" business more than a decade ago, according to court records used in her 1999 conviction, involving 34 counts of trafficking cocaine.

She could not be reached for comment on this latest raid of her rental property.

She has previously said she is no longer involved in the drug trade, and she can not control the activities of her relatives who live or visit her homes.

"I don't baby sit," she told CBC News last summer. "Do you baby sit your 30 year old nephews?"

On Friday, two unknown females were seen being taken from the home into police cruisers wearing handcuffs.