Six men have been charged in a violent Vancouver kidnapping, and police say the accused are all a part of a highly organized, gang-connected group that carries out abductions for profit.

Four of the men were arrested last week, while the other two were taken into custody in November after investigators say they watched the pair abduct a young man.

"They actually took this young man into custody, took him into a van, where they commenced to tie him up and in the process caused fairly substantial damage to his head through blunt trauma," Supt. Tom McCluskie of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit told reporters Tuesday.

The alleged kidnappers were already under surveillance because police believed they may have been involved in other kidnappings. McCluskie said that officers watching the scene unfold interrupted the abduction "almost immediately" and made their arrests.

"This is a very violent group, and this is a group that may be responsible for quite an array of crimes," McCluskie said.

He added that investigators believe the men are all connected with local gangs, including the Independent Soldiers.

Police believe that the victim in the November incident was being tracked for nearly three months before the abduction, and found that GPS devices had been placed on his vehicle. Investigators uncovered two tracking devices as well as laptops that they believe were used in the preparation.

Officers also seized 11 weapons as part of their investigation, guns that McCluskie described as "long-barrelled, high-powered, essentially killing machines."

Each of the six men has been charged with one count of kidnapping with a firearm with the intent to cause harm, assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm.

The accused include:

  • Jesse John Margison, 26, of Coquitlam
  • Troy Dax McKinnon, 28, of Vancouver
  • Van Van Vu, 25, of Vancouver
  • Derek James Stephens, 28, of Vancouver
  • John Ross Powers, 25, of Deroche
  • Cody Alexander Sleigh, 25, of Coquitlam

Three of the accused men have been connected with violent abductions in the past, although convictions have been hard to come by.

McKinnon and Margison both spent more than two years in jail on charges that they had abducted a former associate, tied him up, bashed in his knees with a framing hammer, cut off part of his ear and used garden shears to snip the little finger off his right hand.

But the charges were dismissed and both men were freed last year after the alleged victim, Robert McMillan, refused to testify in court. The charges were dismissed for lack of admissible evidence and McMillan was sentenced to 18 months in jail for contempt of court.

Vu was also connected to a high-profile crime -- the 2006 kidnapping of university student Graham McMynn. Although he was charged with kidnapping and unlawful confinement, he was eventually acquitted on both counts.

Police say their investigation into the accused kidnappers is ongoing.