Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is urging his foster son to turn himself in to police now that he has been charged in connection with a dial-a-dope and gun operation.

Jinagh Farrouch Navas-Rivas, 21, is one of five men implicated in the alleged scheme. He is charged with two counts of cocaine trafficking in Richmond and Vancouver and one count of transferring a .22-calibre Ruger pistol with ammunition in New Westminster. All of the charges relate to incidents in November and December.

A warrant is out for Navas-Rivas's arrest but he has yet to be taken into custody. Robertson is currently on vacation in Hawaii, but he was made aware of the charges Thursday.

"I am disappointed to hear that Jinagh is wanted by the Richmond RCMP and I urge him to turn himself into the police immediately," Robertson said in a release.

The allegations against the young man were uncovered by Martin van den Hemel, a court reporter with the Richmond Review newspaper.

He told CTV News that he noticed the 18-count indictment and something about the names piqued his interest. He dug a little further and discovered Navas-Rivas's family connection.

"It was a pretty significant file," van den Hemel said.

"It's shocking when you find someone related to a high-profile politician like that."

Navas-Rivas ran cross-country in high school for Prince of Wales Secondary and also shares the family passion for soccer, according to interviews with his foster father. He lived with the Robertsons for two years before moving out to live on his own in 2009, but he is still included in family events.

"We have always believed that providing support to youth in need is of great importance and that fostering is an important contribution our family can make. It was in this spirit that we took in Jinagh to live with us," Robertson said.

Also charged in connection with the dial-a-dope ring are Vinh Hoang Le, 25, Kwok Pui Ma, 47, Leslie James Miller, 29 and Willie Sing Cheung Truong, 23. To date, only Miller has appeared in court.