Four individuals—two men and two women—are facing a total of 32 charges related to a home invasion, drive-by shooting, and firearms offenses earlier this year in Edmonton, police confirmed.
The investigation began on February 24, 2024, when a red Mercedes, reportedly involved in a home invasion near Fort Road and 137 Avenue, was stopped by Edmonton police for speeding. Authorities arrested two occupants of the vehicle, Brayan Montilla Villota, 30, and Kevin Valera Valest, 22, and found spent 9 mm ammunition casings inside the car. The vehicle was seized for further examination.
Later that same day, police responded to a drive-by shooting at a residence near 45 Street and 149 Avenue. Security footage confirmed that the red Mercedes seen fleeing the area was the same vehicle seized earlier. A 9 mm casing was also recovered at the scene. Investigators determined the drive-by shooting to be random, with no apparent connection between the suspects and the residence.
Following these incidents, Edmonton Police Service’s Firearms Investigation Unit (FIU) obtained search warrants for the Mercedes and discovered a loaded Glock 9 mm handgun with a defaced serial number. Ballistics testing linked the gun to the shell casings found both at the scene of the drive-by and inside the vehicle. The firearm was traced to the United States, where it had been smuggled into Canada.
A month later, on March 30, 2024, Montilla Villota was arrested again after being spotted waving a firearm from a red Mercedes in the Allard neighborhood in southwest Edmonton. Another Glock handgun with a defaced serial number was found in his possession, also determined to have been smuggled into Canada.
On August 7, 2024, FIU officers executed search warrants at two residences and three vehicles in Edmonton and Calgary, seizing over $6,500 in cash, cocaine, fentanyl, and various ammunition types.
Montilla Villota, Valera Valest, along with Ana Gomez Jimenez, 25, and Tatiana Calderon, 22, are now facing charges including firearms smuggling, drug possession, and weapons offenses.
