Five men arrested on 30 charges for cocaine debt-related abduction of 14-year-old Toronto boy

Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders announced that four arrests had been made in the case, but admitted that his "primary reason for being" at the news conference held on Thursday was to help investigators bring in a fifth suspect.

"We've got one person, you have photos of that person and that's the key reason why I’m here today," the police chief said this morning. "We want this person located, apprehended, he does pose a danger to the community and we want to bring everyone involved in this before the judicial system."

No more than eight hours later, investigators confirmed that a fifth suspect had turned himself in.

The 14-year-old boy, Shammah Jolayemi, was tackled to the ground and shoved in a Jeep Wrangler the morning of March 4. He was discovered in an abandoned barn in Brampton, Ontario 40 hours later.

Two day later, Saunders said the likely motive of the kidnapping was his Jolayemi's stepbrother's alleged involvement in a 2019 drug rip-off that had gone wrong, worth more than $4 million.

Saunders continued by saying Jolayemi "went through a lot of terror" the day of his abduction, adding that the stepbrother put the entire family "in harm's way."

"I can’t imagine what it would be like for not just that young boy, but also the family and anyone who had any feelings towards him," Saunders said. "It had a tremendous amount of impact right across the city."

"A lot of people had a lot of concerns, a lot of worry, including some of the members involved in the investigation. It was a very emotional investigation for a lot of us."

The police chief declined to provide more details "out of respect for the family."

The first four suspects in the crime have been identified as 37-year-old Scott McManus, of Toronto, 38-year-old Samir Abdelgadir, of Mississauga, 25-year-old Liban Hussein, of Toronto, and 30-year-old Hamed Shahnawaz, of Brampton.

The four men are currently facing 30 charges, among them conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, kidnapping for ransom, uttering threats of death, and possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine and marijuana.

The fifth suspect was identified as 29-year-old Solaiman Nassimi, of no fixed address, and his photo was released Thursday morning.

Multiple search warrants were conducted by officers in connection with the investigation on Tuesday. Saunders said the officers had seized a kilogram of cocaine, 70 pounds of marijuana, $130,000 in cash, body armour, and multiple phones and electronic devices.

Saunders said the investigation "is ongoing" and added that "it is possible that there may be more arrests and more charges."