Charges laid against 6 alleged drug dealers in British Columbia linked to the Wolfpack gang

Six people have been charged with drug trafficking in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, according to the provincial investigative team focused on gang activity.

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada has approved criminal charges, most of which relate to organized crime, against six men from the Lower Mainland:

• Joseph Ebert Charles Lowley, 39 years old.

• Vinod Kanna Aruldevarajan, 27 years old.

• Roger Alfredo Bardales Medina, 30 years old.

• Hémen Hewa Saed, 30 years old.

• Diego Maradona Said, 23 years old.

• Howjeen Saed, 27 years old.

Investigators say all six are believed to be linked to the Wolfpack Alliance, a gang that investigators say has been at the center of violence and drug trafficking for more than two decades.

Police say Diego Maradona Saed, Lowley and Bardales Medina remain at large and anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to call their local police detachment or Crime Stoppers.

The Joint Special Forces Investigation Unit (CFSEU), a provincial anti-gang unit made up of members from all police services in the province, began investigating allegations of drug trafficking in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver in July 2020.

In a statement, the unit says it identified suspects from October of that year until May 2021, and “several” search warrants were executed at “various” locations across Vancouver. The police seized:

• Seven prohibited and restricted firearms containing more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

• Ten kilos of fentanyl.

• Three kilos of cocaine and six kilos of methamphetamine.

• Seventy-two kilograms of chemicals used to dilute or “cut” medications.

• $160,000 in cash.

“This lengthy and complex investigation has resulted in significant seizures of potentially deadly drugs and serious charges against those who take advantage of the most vulnerable in our communities,” Manny Mann, head of the CFSEU, said in a statement.

The Wolfpack is believed to have formed as early as 2010, but it wasn't until after the murder of John Raposo in Toronto in 2012 that the group gained national attention.