Five men from Alberta and Ontario are facing numerous charges, including kidnapping, sexual assault and firearms-related offences, after what police are calling two sophisticated and planned kidnappings in Calgary last year.
Calgary police began their investigation after a woman in her 20s was kidnapped on May 2, 2023. Police said she was returning to her vehicle in a parking lot outside her work in northeast Calgary when she was approached by an unknown man and forced into a vehicle.
The woman’s family was notified that she had been taken, and police were called.
During this investigation, police learned that a second woman, who is in her 50s, was kidnapped at gunpoint from her home in southeast Calgary. This kidnapping happened several hours after the first woman was taken “and was believed to be an act of retaliation,” police said in a news release Monday morning.
The women were taken to separate residences in the city that were being rented out through Airbnb. Police said the women were held for more than 30 hours until May 4, 2023.
The women were assaulted several times before being released by the suspects, according to the Calgary Police Service. One woman was taken to hospital to be treated.
Due to the complexity of the investigations, two investigative teams were assigned. Police interviewed the victims and witnesses and gathered both physical and digital evidence during their nine-month investigation.
Police called both kidnappings “sophisticated and planned events involving various levels of organized crime members, including those contracted from outside of Calgary.” Police allege the incidents are the result of “drug-related organized crime conflict” and the victims were targeted because of their association with people involved in organized crime.
“This is an example of how organized crime-related violence impacts more than just those involved, including innocent family members,” the CPS said in a news release.
Electronic devices were searched, as well as five properties in Calgary, Edmonton and Windsor, Ont.
“Much like legitimate business networks, organized-crime networks are not isolated to Calgary, and this investigation required us to liaise with our partners across the country,” Staff Sgt. Roland Stewart of the organized crime response unit said.
“In this case, we determined several offenders were from outside of Calgary, and likely hired through their criminal connections.”
Calgary police say over the past decade, they’ve seen a significant shift in the city’s organized crime landscape.
“Offenders today are highly motivated by money, and we see allegiances change, sometimes on a daily basis,” Stewart said.
“While these individuals don’t always identify themselves as ‘groups,’ their relationships both within and outside of their network are very volatile, and fractures result in the violence that we see. This adds complexity when we are working to prevent and suppress organized crime-related violence in our city.”
Five people have since been charged in the investigation.
In November 2023, 23-year-old Raejean Charles Sydney Hudson and 28-year-old Enyi-Egbe Idedevbo, both of Windsor, Ont., were arrested and charged with one count each of kidnapping. They are both scheduled to appear in court on April 2.
On Jan. 29, 2024, police travelled to Edmonton and arrested two men in that city.
Code Ouellette, 38, and Aireajah Taylor-Francois, 21, are both charged with one count each of kidnapping, robbery, sexual assault, theft over $5,000, break and enter to commit an indictable offence, disguise with intent to commit an indictable offence and using an imitation firearm to commit an indictable offence.
Taylor-Francois is scheduled to appear in court on April 2, while Ouellette’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 12.
On Feb. 15, police arrested a fifth man at a residence in northwest Calgary. During a search of the home, police said they found a loaded shotgun.
Ramien Joshua Naimi, 34, of Calgary, has been charged with 36 offences, including one count each of careless storage of a firearm, uttering threats and knowing possession of an unlicensed weapon, two counts each of possession of a weapon contrary to a prohibition order and identity theft, and 29 counts of failure to comply with a release order.
He will next appear in court on March 27.
Calgary police are asking anyone with information related to these investigations to contact them at 403-266-1234. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online.