A Zone 43 gang member who was wanted Canada-wide for drug and firearms offences has been arrested by VPD’s Task Force Barrage and sent back to Ontario, Vancouver Police announced on Thursday.
Christopher Cineus, 31, was convicted in Ontario on 10 different charges following an investigation by the Ottawa Police Service in 2020, but he fled before sentencing and has been operating in the Downtown Eastside for more than a year.
Although an arrest warrant was issued in Ontario, police in Vancouver were unable to enforce it because the warrant was only valid within a 400-kilometre radius of Ottawa.
Members of VPD’s Metro Team, deployed to the Downtown Eastside in support of Task Force Barrage, worked with Ottawa Police and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada this spring to obtain a Canada-wide warrant so that Cineus could be arrested on the outstanding Ontario charges.
On April 30, the VPD Metro Team took Cineus into custody for the following 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 license or registration
- Possession of a restricted weapon
- Possession of a firearm while prohibited
- Altering a serial number on a firearm
- Possession of cannabis for selling
- Possession for the purpose of trafficking x 3
- Fail to appear in court
Cineus was escorted back to Ontario last weekend by VPD and turned over to the Ottawa Police Service to face sentencing for the 2022 conviction. He remains in custody.
Cineus is also charged and awaiting trial in Vancouver for possession for the purpose of trafficking, in relation to a VPD drug investigation that took place in the Downtown Eastside in March 2024.
