Five Men Charged After Investigation of ‘Sophisticated and Planned’ Calgary Kidnappings

Five men are facing a total of 52 charges after a nine-month, cross-country investigation into the Calgary organized-crime related kidnappings of two women. The “innocent victims” were abducted in separate, “sophisticated and planned events” in May 2023 because of their connection with individuals allegedly involved in drug-related organized crime, Calgary Police Staff-Sergeant Roland Stewart said during a March 18 press conference. The first kidnapping occurred May 2, 2023, when a woman in her 20s was forced into a vehicle by an unknown man outside her northeast Calgary workplace shortly after 6 p.m. The woman’s family called police after being notified of her abduction.  During the subsequent investigation, police learned a woman in her 50s had been kidnapped at gunpoint from a southeast Calgary residence. This kidnapping occurred several hours after the first and was believed to be an act of retaliation, said Staff-Sgt. Stewart, who is part of the Calgary police organized crime response unit....