Police break up drug ring operating in three cities
Cocaine network dealt in Edmonton, Sherwood Park and Fort Mac: ALERT
A cocaine trafficking network with tentacles into Edmonton, Sherwood Park and Fort McMurray has been smashed by police, netting seven arrests and $1 million in drugs and cash.
The 16-month investigation — dubbed Project Fortune — was sparked in March 2017 by a tip that the now-closed Barbero Barbershop in Sherwood Park was likely involved in street-level cocaine sales, the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) said Friday.
“From there, we were able to work up the chain,” ALERT spokesman Mike Tucker said at a news conference.
“It was clear this group had the capacity and the wherewithal to conduct large-scale (operations).”
Not everyone involved with the barber shop was complicit in selling drugs, he said.
The trail led to Edmonton and Fort McMurray, culminating in arrests which resulted in 49 charges.
Two men led the drug operation, say police. Officers infiltrated the group after learning of its ties to the business.
Officers took aim at cocaine trafficking in northern Alberta, resulting in search warrants at three homes in north Edmonton and two residences in Fort McMurray.
Police seized a total of eight kilograms of cocaine worth an estimated $800,000 and $215,000 in cash.
One of the Edmonton homes, a “cocaine conversion lab” in the Eaux Claires neighbourhood, appeared to have been used to mix and package cocaine for street-level sales, Tucker said.
“The impact of this investigation is huge. We’re talking about an entire criminal network being dismantled,” he said.
“For the investigators who worked on this case, it’s Christmas in August. It’s a great win.”
It was one of ALERT’s largest cash seizures, and the most cocaine taken in Edmonton and Fort McMurray in at least a couple of years, Tucker said.
ALERT’s Fort McMurray organized crime and gang team spearheaded the probe with help from Wood Buffalo RCMP, Strathcona County RCMP, Edmonton city police, ALERT Edmonton, and St. Albert RCMP.
About a dozen officers were involved in the investigation with roughly three dozen officers assisting with the searches and arrests.
More arrests are possible, Tucker said. He wouldn’t say where the drugs originated or how much the investigation cost.
Edmonton’s Ali Ameen Elamki, 27, and Mohamed Rachid Torbeih, 33, the alleged leaders of the group, face charges including conspiracy to traffic cocaine and committing an indictable offence for the benefit of a criminal organization.
Torbeih is also charged with instructing a person to commit an indictable offence for the benefit of a criminal organization.
Also charged are Ryan Arthur Jones, 21, of Edmonton; Jamil Mohamed Razian, 33, of Fort McMurray; Mohamed Mounir Torbeih, 29, of Fort McMurray; Sidney Chudek, 21, of Edmonton; and Ismail Hajar, 30, of Edmonton.
All the accused have been released on bail.