Crime group recruiting on the Lower Mainland for Edmonton drug trade: Police

Police in Alberta allege a Surrey member of a criminal organization has been recruiting in B.C. for drug trade workers to operate in Edmonton.

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team announced Wednesday that drug and firearms charges had been laid against five alleged members of the crime group, including Surrey’s Jason Suriyavong, 30.

The spokesman for the police agency that targets organized crime, Mike Tucker, said Suriyavong is also charged with “recruitment of members by a criminal organization, which is rarely laid in Canada.”

“Suriyavong allegedly recruited people from B.C.’s Lower Mainland to traffic drugs in Alberta,” he said.

Also charged after the 2021 investigation are Michael Suksawat, 27, of Surrey; Zachary Edwards-Swanson, 22, of Grande Prairie; Keegan Johnson-Thomas, 31, of Edmonton; and David Nguyen, also 31, of Edmonton.