Police break up drug trafficking ring tied to Red Scorpion gang

Photo: RCMP

The Kelowna RCMP has announced charges against five people with ties to the Red Scorpion gang after a months-long investigation.

The charges date back to November 2017 after police initiated a drug investigation targeting the Red Scorpion gang, and the alleged distribution and sale of drugs throughout the Kelowna area.

The investigation dubbed, "Project E-Precedent" involved 15 search warrants executed on private residences and one office building. The searches led to the seizure of approximately 5.5 kilograms of fentanyl and carfentanil, 3 kilograms of methamphetamine, 1.5 kilograms of cocaine as well as GHB, ecstasy, and other pharmaceutical drugs.

RCMP also seized firearms including a mac-10 sub-machine gun, two semi-automatic 9mm handguns, .45 caliber handgun, .38 caliber handgun, as well as numerous other semi-automatic rifles and long guns and over $130,000 in Canadian money.

“This investigation was extremely complex and demanding,” says Cpl. Jeff Carroll, NCO in charge of the Kelowna RCMP Drug Section. “These seizures no doubt disrupted the drug trade in the area and were a blow against a dangerous criminal element in our community.”

Federal prosecutors have now laid multiple charges related to firearms offences and drug trafficking against 28-year-old Travis Cumming, 35-year-old Jason Keehn, 30-year-old Jonathan Sierra, 27-year-old Nikolas Parisee, and 28-year-old Benjamin Bridger.

Jason Keehn and Jonathan Sierra's charges date back to an offence on Dec. 12, 2017, and Benjamin Bridger's charges also appear to stem from an arrest made in January, 2018 and it's unclear why it took almost three years to lay charges. The first court date in connection with these charges is November 24.

RCMP says now the case before the courts they will not be releasing any further information.