Winnipeg police search for suspects who hit school bus while fleeing

Cory Kozmenski (left) and Kevan Anderson are wanted in connection to a drug trafficking investigation by Winnipeg police. (Winnipeg Police Service)

Winnipeg police are on the hunt for two people believed to be linked to a drug trafficking investigation that led to the seizure of a firearm, ammunition, and more than $200,000 worth of drugs.

Arrest warrants were issued for Cory Kozmenski, 47, and 41-year-old Kevan Anderson. The two Winnipeg men are facing a combined total of 36 charges related to drug trafficking, firearms, and court breaches.

The suspects are considered armed and dangerous.

Police said the investigation began in November.

On Wednesday, around 8:30 a.m., investigators said they saw two suspects in a 2004 Jeep Compass visit a storage locker in the 1200 block of Notre Dame Avenue. Officers tried to pull the vehicle over, however, the driver sped off, hitting several vehicles in the process. A school bus was also hit near the intersection of Sargent Avenue and Edmonton Street, though no injuries were reported.

Ten minutes later, the empty Jeep was found in a parking lot in the 800 block of St. James Street. Police said they seized 13.3 grams of fentanyl from the car.

Around 10:22 a.m., police arrested a 42-year-old man while he was leaving a home in the 500 block of Spence Street. Officers said they seized 327 grams of cocaine, 190 grams of methamphetamine, 103 grams of fentanyl, 240 illegal cigarettes, as well as a contaminated functioning scale.

Search warrants were executed around 10:48 a.m. at the Notre Dame Avenue storage locker, as well as the Spence Street home. Police found a .22LR calibre rifle, ammunition, along with nearly $240,000 worth of fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and illegal cigarettes. They also seized drug packaging materials, four stolen instruments - two saxophones and two guitars - and more than $25,000 in cash.

Kozmenski and Anderson are believed to have fled from the Jeep.

So far, police said four people have been charged in connection to the investigation. The charges include multiple counts of possessing a scheduled substance for the purpose of trafficking, possessing property obtained by crime over $5,000, and trafficking contraband tobacco. All four people were released on an undertaking.

Anyone with information about the people wanted is asked to contact police and avoid approaching them.

The charges have not been tested in court.