A former soccer player for FC Edmonton and his brother are facing drug charges following separate traffic stops by police Wednesday.
According to the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team’s (ALERT) organized crime team, 21-year-old Sadi Jalali and 23-year-old Saidkheyam Jalali were arrested by ALERT officers after they received a tip the brothers were allegedly selling drugs and had guns with them.
Sadi, who until earlier this week had been a forward with FC Edmonton, was arrested in a traffic stop near Ellersie Road 70 Street S.W. According to ALERT, officers found 16 bags of cocaine and $5,285 in the car he was in. The car was seized as civil forfeiture.
Sadi has been charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Saidkheyam was arrested during a traffic stop near 4 Avenue and 50 Street S.W. At the time, ALERT said he was wearing “a small brown satchel” that contained a loaded, Beretta 9mm handgun with its serial number removed. They also said $3,950 was found in the SUV he was in which was seized as civil forfeiture.
Saidkheyam has been charged with careless storage of a firearm, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, carrying a concealed weapon, unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle, possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of a firearm obtained by crime and tampering with a serial number on a firearm.
A home in the southeast was also searched, but nothing of evidentiary value was recovered.
In a tweet, ALERT said FC Edmonton was “not involved in any way” and that the team was only made aware of the investigation Thursday afternoon.
ALERT said officers also searched a home in the city’s southeast in connection with their investigation but no significant evidence was recovered.
Both brothers were released on bail and are scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 18.
Late last month, Sadi announced he was parting ways with FC Edmonton after more than three years with the team. He tweeted about his departure on Friday, saying, “I’d like to thank FC Edmonton for making me grow, not only in football but also as a person. I wish them all the success in the future.”
According to the FC Edmonton website, Sadi came up through the ranks through the team’s FC Edmonton Academy.