Police Say Victim Drugged, Kidnapped From Alberta in B.C. Human Trafficking and Cocaine Dealing Network

SURREY, B.C. — The cash sought by British Columbia’s high-profile Civil Forfeiture Office is relatively small in a case filed Tuesday, but the alleged crimes behind the proceeds—cross-province human trafficking, forcible confinement, procuring, and drug trafficking—point to a well-connected national network with access to cocaine from Mexican suppliers.

Gabriel Angel Osorio-Interiano, 27, a Montreal man previously charged in 2017 for a violent casino-district hotel robbery in Niagara Falls with three other young Montrealers, is now accused in Surrey of kidnapping a victim from Alberta, supplying her cocaine, and forcing her to service a client, according to Surrey Police.

Court filings obtained by The Bureau show the Director of Civil Forfeiture filed a claim this week against $5,625 in cash seized by police on March 21, 2025. The money—some of it contaminated with drug residue—was found in a wallet and bedroom drawer belonging to Osorio-Interiano at a high-rise apartment in Surrey’s Central City.

Despite the modest sum, the case underscores the reach of British Columbia’s civil forfeiture regime, which has often moved against assets tied to organized crime and money laundering where criminal charges prove difficult to sustain.

Law-enforcement experts in both Canada and the United States say domestic Canadian gangs have in recent years been moving massive volumes of cocaine from Mexico into British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Montreal via commercial trucking routes. As Canada’s drug markets tighten their links with Mexican cartels, the country’s justice system remains ill-equipped to prosecute sophisticated transnational networks—leaving civil forfeiture as one of the few tools available to disrupt them.

In the Niagara Falls case, Osorio-Interiano, along with Sergio Hernandez-Cruz and Samuel Osorio, was charged after a hotel room in the casino district was forced open, the occupant allegedly violently assaulted, and belongings stolen before the suspects fled on foot. All were released with conditions, and Montreal police assisted the Niagara Falls force.

The new British Columbia civil forfeiture claim alleges that between March 19 and 20, 2025, Gabriel Osorio-Interiano and unidentified associates carried out forcible confinement, human trafficking, and drug trafficking inside a high-rise apartment at 13308 Central Avenue in Surrey. Police say a victim from Alberta escaped the unit and reported she had been kidnapped, given cocaine, and locked inside. She told investigators she was ordered to service a “date” in the apartment and, after being paid by a client, was forced to hand over part of her earnings to Osorio-Interiano and his associates.

When officers moved in on the residence, a blue bag containing 756 grams of cocaine was allegedly hurled from the balcony. Police then arrested Osorio-Interiano and others for kidnapping.

A search of the residence turned up a series of items that police say tie Osorio-Interiano directly to both the apartment and the alleged trafficking operation. Officers counted $2,125 in Canadian currency inside his wallet and another $3,500 hidden in a bedroom drawer—the cash now at the center of the civil forfeiture case. They also discovered $3,100 in a wallet belonging to one of his associates, though that sum was not included in the proceedings.

Investigators seized documents in Osorio-Interiano’s name, including the tenancy agreement for the unit, along with fraudulent identification cards bearing his likeness. They also found drug paraphernalia—a digital scale marked with residue and packaging materials—together with cash contaminated by narcotics, evidence police say points to active distribution.

Officers further recovered personal belongings of the victim, and a handwritten journal that logged dates, payments, and rates for escort services.

“The Money has been used by G. Osorio-Interiano to engage in unlawful activities which variously resulted in, or were likely to result in, the acquisition of property or an interest in property, or caused, or could have resulted in serious bodily harm,” the seizure filings argue.