24 arrests as part of Hamilton, Ont. street gang investigation, with ties to Toronto, Waterloo and Brantford

A Hamilton Police officer is seen in this undated photo. (Twitter/@HamiltonPolice)

Police in Hamilton, Ont. have arrested 24 people as part of a street gang investigation with connections to Toronto, Halton, Waterloo and Brantford.

In total, the accused are facing 172 charges.

Some of them are also wanted for crimes in the Bahamas, including attempted murder.

The investigation

The investigation into the Hot Mali Squad (HMS), dubbed Project Churchill, began in 2019 after Hamilton Police noted a “significant” increase in violent crime in the city. Through these efforts, they were able to connect HMS members to shootings, homicides, robberies and drug trafficking cases.

According to Tuesday’s media release, investigators also determined that HMS was “operating as a criminal organization and had built strong links with members of the Dirty South operating in the GTA.”

Police explained that Dirty South was a faction of One Order, a Bahamian-based street gang, and its members were involved in smuggling and distribution of illegal firearms from the U.S.

Search warrants

On Nov. 13, police from Hamilton, Halton, Niagara, London, Peel and Waterloo Region, as well as Ontario Provincial Police, executed 17 search warrants in Hamilton, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines and London.

Officers arrested 24 people and also seized 14 guns, 880 grams of cocaine and 1.2 kilograms of fentanyl.

“The firearms seized in this investigation are crime guns,” explained Lee Fulford, with the OPP Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau, in the release. “They are not firearms legally obtained by responsible gun owners. They are obtained illegally with the intent to be used in criminal offences or trafficked to people who intend to use them in criminal offences.”

Police believe HMS “funds its operations primarily through drug trafficking and the sale of illegal firearms” and were mainly working in the Hamilton-area, specifically, Barton Street to Main Street and Queen Street to James Street. They added members were also living in highrises within their designated turf.

The release did not explain the group’s connection to Waterloo or Brantford.

List of arrests

Those arrested, and their charges, are:

Moustapha Abdallah, 20, from Hamilton

• Trafficking fentanyl (x5)

Abi Abdullah-Salah, 24, from Hamilton

• Knowledge of an unauthorized possession of a firearm
• Reckless discharge of a firearm
• Discharge of a firearm with intent
• Possession of a loaded restricted or prohibited firearm
• Fail to comply with an undertaking (x2)
• Fail to comply with a release order

Tareq Alawad, 28, from St. Catharines

• Possession for the purpose of trafficking fentanyl
• Possession of a prohibited weapon

Issa Bechir, 24, from Hamilton

• Trafficking cocaine (x2)
• Federal parolee

Terry Blanchette, 57, from London

• Possession for the purpose of trafficking fentanyl
• Possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine
• Proceeds of crime under $5,000

Trey Claybourne, 30, from London

• Possession for the purpose of trafficking fentanyl
• Possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine

Rashad Cooper, 36, from the Bahamas

• Trafficking firearms
• Conspiracy to commit indictable offence
• Knowledge of unauthorized possession of a loaded firearm
• Knowledge of unauthorized possession of a weapon (x3)
• Possession of a loaded prohibited firearm (x6)
• Assault (domestic)
• Wanted for breaching bail in the Bahamas

Nathaniel Davidson, 39, from London

• Possession of a loaded prohibited firearm
• Possession of a prohibited weapon
• Possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine
• Proceeds of crime over $5,000
• Possession of a firearm contrary to order (x5)

Sirak Solomon Eskias, 22, from Hamilton

• Trafficking firearms (x3)
• Possession of a loaded prohibited firearm (x4)
• Knowledge of unauthorized possession of a loaded firearm (x2)
• Conspiracy to commit indictable offence (x2)
• Trafficking cocaine (x14)
• Trafficking fentanyl (x11)
• Operation while prohibited
• Utter threats (x2)

Dushaun Gray, 30, from Hamilton

• Trafficking cocaine
• Possession for the purposes of trafficking cocaine

Yared Kidane, 18, from Hamilton

• Possession for the purpose of trafficking fentanyl

Devon Deon Laing, 29, from the Bahamas

• Conspiracy to commit indictable offence
• Wanted for attempted murder in the Bahamas

Ryan MacDonald, 37, from London

• Possession of a loaded prohibited firearm
• Possession of a prohibited weapon (x2)
• Possession of a firearm contrary to order

Robert Mader, 41, from the Bahamas

• Conspiracy to commit an indictable offence
• Possession of a prohibited weapon
• Proceeds of crime under $5,000

Cathy Mingo, 62, from Hamilton

• Conspiracy to commit indictable offence
• Possession of a prohibited weapon
• Possession of proceeds under $5,000

Nawal Mohammed, 18, from Hamilton

• Possession for the purpose of trafficking fentanyl
• Possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine
• Proceeds over $5,000

Ahmed Osman, 20, from Hamilton

• Knowledge of unauthorized possession of a firearm
• Robbery
• Trafficking fentanyl (x4)
• Trafficking methamphetamine (x2)
• Trafficking cocaine
• Trafficking opioids
• Trafficking other drugs

Lisa Seabrook, 47, from London

• Possession for the purpose of trafficking fentanyl
• Possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine

Mazin Sharaf, 22, from Hamilton

• Possession for the purpose of trafficking fentanyl (x2)
• Possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine
• Proceeds over $5,000

Eric Hilton Stuart, 35, from the Bahamas

• Trafficking firearms
• Possession of a loaded prohibited firearm
• Knowledge of unauthorized possession of a loaded firearm
• Wanted for possession of dangerous drugs in the Bahamas

Marthide Wagnac, 31, from Miami, Florida

• Trafficking firearms
• Possession of a loaded prohibited firearm (x6)
• Knowledge of unauthorized possession of a firearm
• Knowledge of unauthorized possession of a weapon (x3)
• Conspiracy to commit indictable offence

Sabrina Waite, 29, from Hamilton

• Possession of a loaded prohibited firearm
• Possession of a prohibited weapon (x2)

Vada Warrick, 28, from St. Catharines

• Possession for the purpose of trafficking fentanyl
• Possession of a prohibited weapon

Filimon Embafrash Weldearegay, 24, from Hamilton

• Trafficking firearms (x3)
• Possession of a loaded prohibited firearm (x5)
• Knowledge of unauthorized possession of a loaded firearm (x2)
• Conspiracy to commit indictable offence (x1)
• Trafficking cocaine (x11)
• Trafficking fentanyl (x13)
• Fail to comply (x5)

Unnamed female, 17, from Hamilton

• Trafficking fentanyl (x2)

A warrant has also been issued for Corey Salter, a 39-year-old from Hamilton, for trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine.