Samir Abdelgadir was released on a house arrest with GPS ankle monitoring at his mother’s Mississauga home in a decision released by Justice Carol Brewer on June 9.
Abdelgadir, 39, who is a McMaster University business graduate with no prior criminal convictions, worked as a manager at a restaurant where his mom is a partner.
His mom, 64, supports herself from rental income from properties she owns, and her own savings.
Abdelgadir and three others are accused of the brazen abduction of 14-year-old Shammah Jolayemi, taken on his way to school on the morning of March 4, 2020.
Jolayemi’s half-brother, Olalekan Osikoya, worked as a drug and firearms courier for a mid-level Toronto drug dealer for $10,000 a month starting in the summer of 2018, police sources told the Sun.
Osikoya was upset because he wasn’t paid on time, or not at all, by the dealer, who dismissed his complaints. Osikoya conspired with another drug courier to steal a drug shipment last summer, a source told the Sun.
Osikoya obtained 90 kilograms of cocaine in London, but when he met his accomplice, he was robbed at gunpoint of 75 kg of the haul. Osikoya fled with only 15 kg of cocaine and went into hiding, but the mid-level dealer believed he stole the entire amount, sources said.
The dealer who is in the middle of the criminal organization’s hierarchy was responsible for the cost of the stolen stash. His charges relating to the kidnapping were stayed last month due to a lack of admissible evidence.
He remains charged with trafficking offences but is free on bail and living in London with his elderly, divorced parents.
The dealer visited Osikoya’s parents home, hunting for him and later dispatched henchmen to break into Osikoya’s and his girlfriend’s homes.
Later, Osikoya discovered that the dealer put a $400,000 bounty on his head. That plan failed as well, the source said.
A plot was hatched to kidnap Osikoya’s kid brother to force the drug thief to return the shipment and save his sibling.
A source said Abdelgadir was allegedly instrumental in the planning and execution of the kidnapping, which led to the terrified teen being held hostage for 38 hours.
Osikoya allegedly used to make deliveries to Abdelgadir, who worked as muscle for the organization, sources told the Sun. Osikoya identified the drug dealer and Abdelgadir to police in the investigation and provided one videotaped statement that was helpful to detectives, the source told the Sun.
The kidnappers used three vehicles, a stolen black 2015 Jeep Wrangler, a 2017 Mercedes and a Chevy Tahoe, to execute the abduction in the Driftwood Ave. and Finch Ave. W. area. The incident was seen by neighbour witnesses and captured on TTC security video footage.
Those vehicles were traced by police through a combination of surveillance video, CCTV and 407 transponder readings.
The blind-folded, bound hostage was kept in an abandoned home on Edgeforest Dr. for 38 hours, sources told the Sun.
The victim contacted his half-brother through Snapchat as it was the only way he communicated with his hiding sibling. Osikoya was warned by his half-brother’s abductors he’d better return what he’d stolen or his brother would die, sources told the Sun.
Osikoya broke the news to his father and police kick-started their investigation.
The stolen Wrangler was torched at the Forks of the Credit Provincial Park.
The victim was rescued, disheveled but unharmed, by police after an impassioned plea by Supt. Steve Watts to the kidnappers to release the teen.
Abdelgadir, who was charged but never convicted of earlier serious offences, has abided by all strict bail conditions during that 18-month period.
He is banned from associating with his co-accused, the kidnapping victim or his half-brother and is also barred from possessing weapons.
A publication ban was imposed on his bail hearing, so the judge’s reasons for releasing him cannot be divulged. But all judges have considered the COVID-19 pandemic as a factor — among many — in bail hearings this spring.
There has been a 31% decrease in Ontario jail populations since the outbreak began in mid-March.
As of May 25, the Toronto South Detention Centre has three inmates who tested positive for COVID-19, five inmates who have recovered and two released from custody. One staffer also tested positive for the virus.
There were 132 shootings in Toronto between Jan. 1 and April 27, 2020 — which is more than the same period in the previous four years. It’s a 20% increase over the same period last year.
The kidnapping occurred in 31 Division, which yielded the highest number of shootings in 2019 and in the first four months of this year.
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