BURST
A gangster who fled the Ottawa area after being convicted three years ago for drug and gun offences has been arrested in Vancouver and shipped back east to face sentencing.
Police say Christopher Cineus, 31, is a member of the Zone 43 gang that operates extensively in Ontario and Quebec. He was convicted in 2022 for 10 firearms and trafficking offences after a two-year investigation by Ottawa police.
But Cineus took off before sentencing and Vancouver police say he has been operating in the Downtown Eastside for more than a year.
While a warrant was issued for his arrest in Ontario, “police in Vancouver were unable to enforce it because the warrant was only valid within a 400-kilometre radius of Ottawa,” said VPD spokesman Sgt. Steve Addison in a news release on Thursday.
Earlier this year, the VPD sent a team to the DTES in support of a crackdown in the crime-riddled neighbourhood known as Task Force Barrage . Working with the Ottawa Police Service and federal prosecutors, the VPD was able to get a Canada-wide warrant so Cineus could be arrested for the Ontario crimes.
Addison said officers took Cineus into custody on April 30 for the Ottawa offences: possession of a firearm obtained by crime, careless handling of a firearm, possession of a loaded firearm, possession of a restricted firearm without a licence or registration, possession of a restricted weapon, possession of a firearm while prohibited, altering a serial number on a gun, possession of cannabis for selling, three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking, and failure to appear in court.
Cineus was escorted back to Ontario last weekend by VPD officers then turned over to Ottawa police to face sentencing. He is now in jail in Ontario.
Cineus is also charged and awaiting trial in Vancouver for possession for the purpose of trafficking after a VPD drug investigation in the DTES in March 2024.
Zone 43 is a Montreal-based gang that has moved into Vancouver in the past couple of years and is working in an alliance with the B.C. Wolfpack Gang selling drugs to vulnerable users, especially in the DTES. A bust last June targeting Zone 43 operatives led to five arrests and the seizure of guns, 24 kilos of drugs and $150,000 in cash.
VPD Insp. Phil Heard said at the time that police are “committed to combating organized crime groups operating in our community, especially those from other jurisdictions that seek to establish operations in Vancouver and profit from the sale of toxic drugs.”
The Quebec gang has been involved in a violent conflict in Montreal with a rival group called the Profit Boys, while in recent years, the Wolfpack and other B.C. organized crime groups have expanded their reach globally .
With files from Kim Bolan