Calgary police have charged five men in a pair of kidnappings last year that targeted innocent victims.
Police launched an investigation on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, after learning that a woman in her 20s had been abducted from a northeast parking lot.
The victim was walking to her vehicle, parked outside her workplace, when an unknown man approached her and forced her into his vehicle.
The victim’s family was then notified that she had been taken.
During their investigation, police discovered that a second victim had also been kidnapped several hours after the first, allegedly as an act of retaliation.
The second victim, a woman in her 50s, had been taken from a home in southeast Calgary at gunpoint.
Both women were held in separate homes in Calgary rented through Airbnb until Thursday, May 4.
“The women were assaulted several times before being released by the suspects,” police said in a news release Monday.
Calgary Police released this photo of a Calgary Airbnb rental in Citadel Estates Heights NW while investigating a kidnapping. The incidents lasted more than 30 hours and police across the city worked to bring the women home safely.
Once located, one of the women was taken to the hospital.
‘Sophisticated and planned’
Calgary police say both kidnappings were “sophisticated and planned events” involving “multiple levels of organized crime members.”
“These individuals were involved in organized crime and came into conflict through drug trafficking, and this was the way they approached it,” Stewart said at a news conference Monday.
He said this type of activity is an example of how violence related to organized crime affects more people than just those involved, including innocent family members.
Investigation leads to charges
The complexity of the investigation led to two investigation teams being assigned.
“In this case, we determined that several criminals were from outside of Calgary and were likely hired through their criminal connections,” said Sgt. Roland Stewart of the organized crime response unit.
Over the next nine months, the Calgary Police Service worked with the Windsor Police Service in Ontario, the Vancouver Police Department in British Columbia, the Lethbridge Police Service and the Edmonton Police Service to find the suspects. responsible.
Police also searched five properties in Calgary, Edmonton and Windsor, Ont.
charges filed
Five men are charged in connection with the kidnappings.
Raejean Charles Sydney Hudson, 23, and Enyi-Egbe Idedevbo, 28, both of Windsor, were arrested in November. Each faces a charge of kidnapping.
Code Ouellette, 38, and Aireajah Taylor-Francois, 21, both from Edmonton, were arrested in January and charged with multiple offences, including kidnapping and sexual assault.
Then on Feb. 15, police arrested a fifth man, Ramien Joshua Naimi, 34, of Calgary, at a home in the city’s northwest.
Calgary Police confiscated this weapon, which was loaded, during a search of a home on Thursday, February 15, 2024. (Calgary Police Service Handout) Naimi faces 26 offences, including negligent storage of a firearm, uttering threats and possession of a firearm without a licence.
Organized Crime in Calgary
Calgary police say they have seen a “significant change” in the city’s organized crime landscape over the past 10 years.
“Criminals today are very motivated by money and we see loyalties changing, sometimes on a daily basis,” Stewart said.
“While these individuals do not always identify as ‘groups,’ their relationships both within and outside their network are highly volatile, and fractures result in the violence we see.
“This adds complexity as we work to prevent and suppress organized crime-related violence in our city.”
Anyone with more information about the kidnappings is asked to call police at 403-266-1234. Suggestions can also be submitted via stop crime anonymously.