I was working on this weekend story for a few days after learning from sources that Matthew Navas-Rivas was the target of the shooting last January that left a Coquitlam teenager caught in the crossfire dead.

Naval-Rivas knew he was targeted after he and others once part of the Wolf Pack started feuding with others in the gang alliance. At the time of his murder last month, Navas-Rivas, who was on bail on dozens of firearms charges, was with the Brothers Keepers and had been on their annual boat cruise the night before.

I hope to write more about gang violence in prisons and jails, as I ran out of time/space in this story so didn’t use all that I learned. Knowah Ferguson’s lawyer was talking Friday about the fact his client had been attacked in Surrey pre-trial because of who he tried to kill.

NOTE TO READERS: I am off for the next week and back Labour Day. I will leave comments open until tomorrow, but then will shut them down for a week.

Here’s my story:

The night before Matthew Navas-Rivas was shot to death in east Vancouver last month, he was enjoying himself with other members of the Brothers Keepers gang on a boat cruise around the Vancouver waterfront.

Postmedia has obtained photos of the cruise, where Navas-Rivas chatted up other gang members and guests, shirt off, tattoos visible.

While Navas-Rivas appeared to be at ease with his new associates, he had admitted to others in the preceding months that he knew he was in danger.

His murder near Nanaimo and Cambridge streets on July 25 was likely related to a dispute between gangsters incarcerated in B.C. prisons that has spilled out onto city streets, a Postmedia investigation has found.

And he is not the conflict’s only victim.

Postmedia has learned that Navas-Rivas was the target of a shooting on Jan. 13 this year that killed 15-year-old Alfred Wong.

While Navas-Rivas escaped injury that night, some of the gunshots hit Wong’s family car as he and his parents drove along Broadway. No one has yet been charged in the murder of the gifted Coquitlam student.

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Also killed that night was one of the gunmen, 23-year-old Kevin Whiteside,

Vancouver police Supt. Mike Porteous said he couldn’t comment on the case because it is an ongoing investigation.

But sources have confirmed that not only was Navas-Rivas targeted last January, his close associate Troy McKinnon was murdered hours earlier in Nanaimo.

Both men were associated with the Wolf Pack coalition until a splintering in the alliance led to internal violence.

Some of that violence occurred in federal prisons, including two separate stabbings of Wolf Pack killer Dean Wiwchar.

Wiwchar was attacked in Kent Institution last November, allegedly by inmates associated with McKinnon and Navas-Rivas.

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Dean Wiwchar

One of those charged with aggravated assault in the attack on Wiwchar, according to court documents, is Cody Sleigh, who was convicted in the same 2011 kidnapping case that sent McKinnon to prison.

Wiwchar, who was convicted of the first-degree murder of a Toronto man in June 2012, has also been charged with the January 2012 murder of B.C. gangster Sandip Duhre in the Sheraton Wall Centre, but has yet to go to trial in that slaying.

Wiwchar has since been transferred to a federal prison in Alberta, where he was recently stabbed again.

Porteous said any splintering that has happened in the Wolf Pack is not among the leadership.

“The higher ups are quiet. The lower you go, the more volatile you see it, and the more fracturing and the more unstable you see it,” Porteous said.

Sometimes the violence relates to incidents in prison or pretrial jail, he said. Sometimes it relates to the fact that some gang members are in custody while others are running their drug lines on the outside. And sometimes it’s just a personal beef.

“When one of their guys gets slighted or he gets threatened or he gets hot-buttered or stabbed or whatever inside jail, a threat will get made to whoever that guy thinks did it, and then you will start seeing this violence,” Porteous said.

Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit said some lower-level gangsters get attacked in prison because rivals want to retaliate against gang leaders they can’t reach.

“You are a captive audience in there,” he said.

When some gang members are in jail, their supposed friends on the outside sometimes make power moves, leading to violence within the group, Houghton said.

“So the game of thrones is really on when those people are no longer outside to pull the strings or be the puppet masters of their crews … and it is a free-for-all to see who can take over,” he said. “It is a backstabbing, chaotic, paranoia-filled world.”

Gang violence in federal prisons and provincial jails has been an ongoing problem.

Correctional Service Canada official Esther Mailhot said in an email Friday that the department “continues to work diligently to ensure the safety and security of federal institutions.”

“Prison violence is not tolerated. Disciplinary action is taken, and in some cases criminal charges are laid against offenders involved in violent incidents,” she said.

She said institutions carefully manage “gangs, organized-crime members and affiliates, as well as incompatible offenders.”

Both McKinnon, the Nanaimo victim, and Navas-Rivas, who will be remembered at a memorial in New Brighton Park on Saturday, were identified in parole decisions as having been involved in a number of violent attacks inside federal prisons.

In McKinnon’s case, the board noted in a decision last year that he had “been segregated on six occasions for various reasons, including assaults on other inmates.”

He maintained gang affiliations while in jail and was believed to be “involved in the institutional drug sub-culture,” the parole decision said.

Because there was concern McKinnon might be hunted once released, the board decided not to place him in a halfway house both because of “the danger that would exist for staff and other residents” and because he would be easy to find “for those wanting to cause (him) harm.”

Instead, the parole board ordered him to live on his own with a curfew, an electronic monitoring bracelet and other conditions that in the end couldn’t save him.

The parole board noted that Navas-Rivas committed several serious acts of violence in the community, then continued on once he was arrested.

“Your violence has continued following incarceration. While in remand you engaged in a fight with another inmate and were suspected of being involved in assaults and coordinating assaults against other inmates,” a 2016 parole decision said. “Your behaviour did not improve following your transfer into the federal system. You have reportedly been involved in four assaults against other inmates. In two of these assaults, an edged weapon was used.”

In one of the prison attacks, he punched his victim before “later using an ice pick-style weapon to stab him multiple times,” the parole documents said. “You and your two accomplices then punched, kicked and kneed the victim even after being ordered to stop by correctional staff.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

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The B.C. government has filed civil forfeiture challenges against gangsters alleged to be involved in a violent Lower Mainland conflict.

Last month, the director of civil forfeiture filed a lawsuit again Amandeep Kang, of the Brothers Keepers, seeking to seize over $2,000 in Kang’s possession when he was stopped by Vancouver police in August 2017.

Other gangsters and drug traffickers currently facing charges have also been named in civil forfeiture cases, a review of new cases shows.

Kang was with an associate named Samroop Singh Gill when he was approached by the VPD about 11:40 p.m. on Aug. 12, 2017, as he sat in his idling 2015 BMW in the 1200-block of Hornby.

“The VPD determined the vehicle was associated to Mr. Kang,” the lawsuit says. “Mr. Kang is known to the VPD and believed to be involved in violent Lower Mainland gang conflicts.”

Indeed, Kang was one of several Brothers Keepers and associates, including Matthew Navas-Rivas, recently on a charter cruise around Vancouver. Navas-Rivas was shot to death in east Vancouver the day after the cruise.

The suit says police told Kang, who was driving, that he was in violation of an anti-idling bylaw.

“The VPD observed a male passenger in the back seat of the vehicle, later identified as Mr. Gill, reach for something under his leg,” the court documents said.

“The VPD conducted a safety search of Mr. Kang and found $2,150 in Canadian currency, consisted of one bundle of $100 bills wrapped around a package of chewing gum in Mr. Kang’s front left pant pocket and one bundle of $100 and $50 bills in Mr. Gill’s rear left pant pocket.”

Gill was also searched and found to have $1,455, a folding knife and three cellphones.

Police also found marijuana and baggies containing illegal steroid pills.

Some of Kang’s money tested positive for traces of cocaine and fentanyl, the documents said.

The civil forfeiture director alleges the money is a proceed and instrument of illegal activity and should therefore be forfeited.

“The defendants did not have sufficient legitimate income to have acquired the money,” the director alleges.

Neither Kang nor Gill has filed a response to the civil forfeiture case, which was filed Aug. 7.

The Brothers Keepers has been part of a bloody conflict with rival drug traffickers — some of whom are former associates.

Brothers Keepers leader Gavinder Grewal was murdered in December in a North Vancouver penthouse apartment. His former ally, Randy Kang, was shot to death in Surrey two months earlier.

Also recently sued by the director of civil forfeiture are Inderdeep Pamma and Walta Abay.

The director wants Pamma’s 2016 Nissan Rogue forfeited after it was seized by Surrey RCMP last October.

The government’s claim, filed Aug. 28, says Pamma was in the vehicle in front of a Surrey house “known to be affiliated to illegal drug trafficking and prostitution.”

When police approached, Pamma “attempted to flee from the RCMP in the vehicle, striking the RCMP’s vehicle and a fire hydrant.” Pamma was arrested in the back yard of a home where police also found heroin, crack cocaine, methamphetamine and a blackberry. He remains before the court on several trafficking charges.

The director said the vehicle should be forfeited as the funds used to buy it “were proceeds of the unlawful activity.”

The claim against Abay is also for the forfeiture of a vehicle allegedly used in drug trafficking in Burnaby in 2015.

The lawsuit, filed Aug. 30, says Abay sold drugs to undercover police officer four times before he was arrested and the vehicle was seized.

In May 2018, Vancouver Police said Abay was part of a violent Lower Mainland gang that was contracting itself out to commit murders for larger, more-established organized crime groups.

Abay and his group’s purported leader Taqdir Gill were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, as well as possession of a loaded, restricted or prohibited firearm on Oct. 26, 2017 and being in a vehicle knowing there was a gun inside.

At the time, VPD Supt. Mike Porteous said the murder conspiracy involved “several victims” — some of whom were rival gang members.

Abay is back in B.C. Supreme Court in the conspiracy case on Sept. 14.

kbolan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/kbolan

The founder of a Vancouver encryption company that supplied untraceable BlackBerry devices to organized crime groups around the world has pleaded guilty to racketeering in Southern California.

Phantom Secure CEO Vincent Ramos appeared before U.S. District Court Magistrate Barbara Lynn Major in a San Diego courtroom Tuesday and admitted to leading a criminal enterprise that facilitated international drug smuggling “through the sale and service of encrypted communications devices.”

In his plea deal, Ramos admitted that he and his associates helped distribute cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine to locations in Canada, the U.S., Australia, Mexico, Thailand and Europe.

Ramos, who lived with his family in Richmond until his arrest earlier this year, maintained Phantom Secure servers in Panama and Hong Kong — hidden behind virtual proxy servers — and even remotely wiped devices seized by law enforcement.

Some of his customers included members of the notorious Sinaloa cartel of Mexico, court documents said.

Ramos and his co-conspirators would only sell devices to customers who had a personal reference from an existing client. And Ramos used digital currencies, including Bitcoin, to facilitate financial transactions for Phantom Secure to protect users’ anonymity and launder proceeds from Phantom Secure.

He admitted that at least 450 kilograms of cocaine were distributed using Phantom Secure devices.

As part of his guilty plea, Ramos agreed to a US$80 million forfeiture judgment, as well as the forfeiture of tens of millions of dollars in identified assets, ranging from bank accounts worldwide, to houses, to a Lamborghini, to cryptocurrency accounts and gold coins. But the plea deal also said the U.S. would not seize two Lower Mainland properties, vehicles and bank accounts used by his family.

Ramos also agreed to forfeit the server licences and over 150 domains which were being used to operate the infrastructure of the Phantom Secure network, enabling it to send and receive encrypted messages for criminals.

“The Phantom Secure encrypted communication service was designed with one purpose — to provide drug traffickers and other violent criminals with a secure means by which to communicate openly about criminal activity without fear of detection by law enforcement,” U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman said in a news release. “As a result of this investigation, Phantom Secure has been dismantled and its CEO Vincent Ramos now faces a significant prison sentence. The United States will investigate and prosecute anyone who provides support, in any form, to criminal organizations, including those who try to help criminal organizations ‘go dark’ on law enforcement.”

FBI Special Agent John Brown, who heads the San Diego field office, said Ramos’s guilty plea “is a significant strike against transnational organized crime.”

“The FBI and our international law enforcement partners have demonstrated that we will not be deterred by those who exploit encryption to benefit criminal organizations and assist in evading law enforcement,” Brown said. “With this case, we have successfully shut down the communication network of dangerous criminals who operated across the globe.”

Ramos’s co-defendants — Kim Augustus Rodd, Younes Nasri, Michael Gamboa and Christopher Poquiz — remain international fugitives.

Ramos is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 17. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail, but the plea agreement states that U.S. authorities won’t oppose his transfer to a Canadian prison after he’s served at least five years south of the border.

Ramos founded Phantom Secure Communications in Vancouver in 2008. The company then branched out to the U.S., Australia, Dubai, Panama, Hong Kong and Thailand.

Born in Winnipeg in 1977, Ramos moved with his family to Richmond at age four. He attended Kwantlen for two years and studied business before embarking on a career selling Amway products, according to documents filed in court by his lawyer. He then worked for Rogers Cellular before deciding to go into business for himself.

kbolan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/kbolan

The mother of Red Scorpion gangster Kevin LeClair expressed her devastation at his fatal 2009 shooting in a victim impact statement read in B.C. Supreme Court Thursday.

Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Rennie read the statement to Justice Janice Dillon at the sentencing hearing of LeClair’s killer Cory Vallee, a hitman for the rival United Nations gang.

LeClair’s slaying “was just the beginning of the nightmare,” said the statement, signed only as “Kevin’s mother.”

“That day our family changed beyond repair. How can I put into words all my son meant to me and how my life since that day has changed so drastically?”

She said she had a special bond with LeClair who she saw or talked to every day before his death.

“Since the day he died, I have not been able to look at a picture of Kevin. I have put away all the family photos,” the statement said. “I have been numb and paralyzed with grief and pain.”

Her grief was compounded by the publicity surrounding the murder, which was part of a violent battle on Metro Vancouver streets between the UN gang and the Red Scorpions.

Vallee was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder on June 1.

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Cory Vallee in 2011 mug shots provided by police.

While the murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence with no parole for at least 25 years, prosecutors are arguing that Vallee should have to serve at least half of his conspiracy sentence before being eligible for parole.

And they are arguing Vallee should get at least 22 years for the conspiracy conviction.

Normally an inmate can apply for parole after serving a third of a non-murder sentence. The issue of his parole eligibility on the conspiracy count would only come into play if Vallee successfully appeals his murder conviction.

No appeal has yet been filed.

Rennie argued that Vallee has kept in contact with UN gang members and associates since his 2014 arrest on the murder charge, including others convicted in the same conspiracy case like Barzan Tilli-Choli.

And he has written and received letters from other UN gang members also convicted of murder like Jason McBride, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the slaying of Red Scorpion Jonathan Bacon in Kelowna in August 2011.

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Kevin LeClair was shot outside the IGA in Langley’s Thunderbird Village Mall on Feb. 6, 2009.

Rennie said other letters that have arrived at Surrey Pretrial jail for Vallee have aroused suspicions of jail staff.

One purporting to me from a lawyer had glitter and sparkles covering the envelope, she said.

It was returned to sender.

Rennie also said jail records indicate no major issues with Vallee’s behaviour during his four years of pretrial custody.

“These records indicate Mr. Vallee has been relatively well-behaved,” she said, noting that he was “greeted warmly by his peers on his arrival.”

Rennie said an aggravating factor in the LeClair murder was its public nature — in front of a grocery store in a busy strip mall on a Friday afternoon in February.

Nearby cars had bullet holes in them, she said.

And the murder conspiracy that targeted the Bacon brothers and other Red Scorpions resulted in several shootings in 2008 and 2009, Rennie said.

Vallee’s defence will make their submissions Friday.

Dillon is expected to reserve her decision.

kbolan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/kbolan

Related

• Cory Vallee convicted of first-degree murder of Red Scorpion gangster
• Fatal flashpoint: Gurmit Dhak's 2010 murder ignited a gang war that's still raging
• Brutality of UN, Red Scorpion gang war highlighted in year-long trial

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Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.

Thanks for your patience during the last few weeks as I have been off of work on leave.

I am now back and have some updates on a few cases I have covered previously.

For starters, Vince Ramos, who started Phantom Secure a decade ago to sell encrypted phones to criminals, has pleaded guilty in California to racketeering for aiding international drug traffickers by allowing them to communicate using his secure devices.

Amazingly, the U.S. says the Vancouver man netted $80 million US through his illicit ventures.

He faces a possible prison term of up to 20 years.

Here’s my story:

Cory Vallee was convicted of the first-degree murder of Red Scorpion Kevin LeClair last June, as well as of conspiring to kill the Bacon brothers and others in the RS. But Vallee has not yet been sentenced.

While his murder conviction will result in an automatic life sentence with no parole for a minimum of 25 years, the Crown in the case also wants Vallee to get delayed parole eligibility on the sentence he gets for the conspiracy count.

On Thursday, victim impact statements from LeClair’s mother and sibling were read in court.

Here’s my story:

The mother of Red Scorpion gangster Kevin LeClair expressed her devastation at his fatal 2009 shooting in a victim impact statement read in B.C. Supreme Court Thursday.

Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Rennie read the statement to Justice Janice Dillon at the sentencing hearing of LeClair’s killer Cory Vallee, a hitman for the rival United Nations gang.

LeClair’s slaying “was just the beginning of the nightmare,” said the statement, signed only as “Kevin’s mother.”

“That day our family changed beyond repair. How can I put into words all my son meant to me and how my life since that day has changed so drastically?”

She said she had a special bond with LeClair who she saw or talked to every day before his death.

“Since the day he died, I have not been able to look at a picture of Kevin. I have put away all the family photos,” the statement said. “I have been numb and paralyzed with grief and pain.”

Her grief was compounded by the publicity surrounding the murder, which was part of a violent battle on Metro Vancouver streets between the UN gang and the Red Scorpions.

Vallee was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder on June 1.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

While the murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence with no parole for at least 25 years, prosecutors are arguing that Vallee should have to serve at least half of his conspiracy sentence before being eligible for parole.

And they are arguing Vallee should get at least 22 years for the conspiracy conviction.

Normally an inmate can apply for parole after serving a third of a non-murder sentence. The issue of his parole eligibility on the conspiracy count would only come into play if Vallee successfully appeals his murder conviction.

No appeal has yet been filed.

Rennie argued that Vallee has kept in contact with UN gang members and associates since his 2014 arrest on the murder charge, including others convicted in the same conspiracy case like Barzan Tilli-Choli.

And he has written and received letters from other UN gang members also convicted of murder like Jason McBride, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the slaying of Red Scorpion Jonathan Bacon in Kelowna in August 2011.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Rennie said other letters that have arrived at Surrey Pretrial jail for Vallee have aroused suspicions of jail staff.

One purporting to me from a lawyer had glitter and sparkles covering the envelope, she said.

It was returned to sender.

Rennie also said jail records indicate no major issues with Vallee’s behaviour during his four years of pretrial custody.

“These records indicate Mr. Vallee has been relatively well-behaved,” she said, noting that he was “greeted warmly by his peers on his arrival.”

Rennie said an aggravating factor in the LeClair murder was its public nature — in front of a grocery store in a busy strip mall on a Friday afternoon in February.

Nearby cars had bullet holes in them, she said.

And the murder conspiracy that targeted the Bacon brothers and other Red Scorpions resulted in several shootings in 2008 and 2009, Rennie said.

Vallee’s defence will make their submissions Friday.

Dillon is expected to reserve her decision.

kbolan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/kbolan

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is probing two new shooting deaths in Mission and Chilliwack.

Gang-involved Varinderpal Gill, who was just 19, was shot to death Wednesday about 9 p.m. at Mission Junction Mall on London Avenue.

IHIT spokesman, Cpl. Frank Jang, said Gill was pronounced dead at the scene.

In August, Abbotsford Police issued a pubic warning about Gill, who was involved in the Lower Mainland gang conflict.

While Gill was killed in Mission, a burning SUV believed to be linked to his death was found in Abbotsford’s Bateman Park at 1:14 a.m. Thursday.

“This was a brazen shooting in a busy shopping complex and those responsible showed absolutely no regard for human life.  Fortunately, no one else was hurt from this incident,” Jang said.  “We are releasing Mr. Gill’s name in an effort to determine his activities and who he may have had contact with prior to his death.”

IHIT was also on the scene of a fatal shooting in the 46000-block of Yale Road in Chilliwack that took place Thursday afternoon.

An injured person was found at the scene and transported to hospital where they died.

Anyone with information on either death is asked to call IHIT

Anyone with information regarding either case should contact IHIT at 1-877-551-4448 or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

For years, former Vancouver gangster Nabil Alkhalil fought to stay in Canada, his adopted country, after being threatened with deportation over a cocaine trafficking conviction.

Then he disappeared in 2013, after his brother Robby was charged with the Vancouver murder of a longtime rival Sandip Duhre.

Nabil Alkhalil recently resurfaced in Mexico, where he was shot to death in August in a luxury car dealership. One man has been arrested in the murder and another suspect has left the country, according to Mexican newspaper reports.

Nabil, 42, is the third brother in the notorious crime family to die violently.

Khalil Alkhalil, 19, was shot to death in Surrey in 2001 during a conflict over a $200 drug debt.

Mahmoud, 19, was killed in a gangland shoot-out in the Loft Six nightclub in Vancouver in 2003.

And while the family moved to Ottawa after the two B.C. slayings, their organized crime links to the province have continued.

“The Alkhalil family is well-known to police and has an extensive history in the gang landscape that has been well-documented,” Sgt. Brenda Winpenny of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit said this week. “As we have seen many times in the past, it is not unusual for individuals heavily-involved in gang activity to flee the country in order to either avoid prosecution or continue their criminal activity.”

Robby Alkhalil, 30, remains in custody awaiting trial for the January 2012 murder of Duhre, the middle brother of three rival clan siblings. His next appearance in B.C. Supreme Court is Oct. 19.

Vancouver Police Supt. Mike Porteous said the feud between the teams of criminal brothers goes back two decades.

“It started as a dispute over drug trafficking lines in Surrey way back in the day. But it became much more personal with the murder of Khalil,” Porteous said Friday. “They’ve been involved in a conflict with the Duhre guys for a good 20 years and it kind of ebbed and flowed relative to different murders and struggles over drug territory.”

Khalil’s killer, Michael Naud, claimed self-defence and was acquitted of murder.

Prison records obtained by Postmedia say Matsqui guards overheard Nabil making threatening comments about Naud after the not guilty verdict in November 2002.

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Rahib (Robby) Alkhalil

“I don’t f–king believe it. Wait until I get out,” Nabil told his sister and girlfriend during a visit.

Naud was later shot to death in Kelowna. No one was ever charged.

Long before Khalil was killed, Nabil stabbed a young Duhre associate in Surrey’s Holly Park. He claimed he was only trying to protect his younger brothers but was convicted in 2001 of assault with a weapon and other counts.

While on day parole in July 2002, Nabil was stopped in a rented truck by Vancouver police. Officers found a loaded .45-calibre handgun in the vehicle.

“Alkhalil told police that he thought his life was in danger,” parole documents obtained by Postmedia say. “He said he believes that the Duhre brothers have a contract on his head.”

“The Duhre brothers were involved in the incident that resulted in the death of one of (Nabil) Alkhalil’s brothers. Alkhalil retaliated at the time by beating up one of the Duhres. There has been bad blood since. The Duhre brothers are considered by police to be violent as are Alkhalil and his brother Mahmoud,” the documents say.

A year later, Mahmoud died in the Loft Six shooting. Sandip Duhre was one of several notorious gangsters in the nightclub when the violence broke out.  Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

The Alkhalil family — mom, dad, five brothers and two sisters — fled the violence of the Middle East in 1990 to make successful refugee claims in Canada.

But after the death of two sons, they resettled in Ottawa in 2004 to “start life afresh,” according to Federal Court documents filed for Nabil’s unsuccessful appeal of his deportation order.

He was soon in trouble with the law again, getting caught with a duffel bag containing 11 kilograms of cocaine. He was convicted of trafficking in 2008.

Porteous said the Alkhalils became more powerful in the drug trade because of close connections they had in Mexico.

“As far as drug trafficking goes, it was a little bit of a game changer for us because you had the direct importation of drugs,” Porteous said.

But the violence continued, some of it linked to the old feud and some of it linked to disputes over drug territory that continued into this decade as each side formed new alliances.

“These things go in peaks and valleys,” Porteous said.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

I was off when I heard the news in August about Nabil Alkhalil getting killed in Mexico, five years after he left Canada on a fake passport.

I know people have been asking me to do a story on his demise even though time has passed. Mexican news reports were referring to him as a Palestinian businessman and claimed the murder was over the sale of some cars. But I have heard it was a cocaine deal gone bad. One man has been arrested. A second suspect left the country, according to Mexican news reports.

Here’s my feature on the death of the third of five Alkhalil brothers:

For years, former Vancouver gangster Nabil Alkhalil fought to stay in Canada, his adopted country, after being threatened with deportation over a cocaine trafficking conviction.

Then he disappeared in 2013, after his brother Robby was charged with the Vancouver murder of a longtime rival Sandip Duhre.

Nabil Alkhalil recently resurfaced in Mexico, where he was shot to death in August in a luxury car dealership. One man has been arrested in the murder and another suspect has left the country, according to Mexican newspaper reports.

Nabil, 42, is the third brother in the notorious crime family to die violently.

Khalil Alkhalil, 19, was shot to death in Surrey in 2001 during a conflict over a $200 drug debt.

Mahmoud, 19, was killed in a gangland shoot-out in the Loft Six nightclub in Vancouver in 2003.

And while the family moved to Ottawa after the two B.C. slayings, their organized crime links to the province have continued.

“The Alkhalil family is well-known to police and has an extensive history in the gang landscape that has been well-documented,” Sgt. Brenda Winpenny of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit said this week. “As we have seen many times in the past, it is not unusual for individuals heavily-involved in gang activity to flee the country in order to either avoid prosecution or continue their criminal activity.”

Robby Alkhalil, 30, remains in custody awaiting trial for the January 2012 murder of Duhre, the middle brother of three rival clan siblings. His next appearance in B.C. Supreme Court is Oct. 19.

Vancouver Police Supt. Mike Porteous said the feud between the teams of criminal brothers goes back two decades.

“It started as a dispute over drug trafficking lines in Surrey way back in the day. But it became much more personal with the murder of Khalil,” Porteous said Friday. “They’ve been involved in a conflict with the Duhre guys for a good 20 years and it kind of ebbed and flowed relative to different murders and struggles over drug territory.” Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Khalil’s killer, Michael Naud, claimed self-defence and was acquitted of murder.

Prison records obtained by Postmedia say Matsqui guards overheard Nabil making threatening comments about Naud after the not guilty verdict in November 2002.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

“I don’t f–king believe it. Wait until I get out,” Nabil told his sister and girlfriend during a visit.

Naud was later shot to death in Kelowna. No one was ever charged.

Long before Khalil was killed, Nabil stabbed a young Duhre associate in Surrey’s Holly Park. He claimed he was only trying to protect his younger brothers but was convicted in 2001 of assault with a weapon and other counts.

While on day parole in July 2002, Nabil was stopped in a rented truck by Vancouver police. Officers found a loaded .45-calibre handgun in the vehicle.

“Alkhalil told police that he thought his life was in danger,” parole documents obtained by Postmedia say. “He said he believes that the Duhre brothers have a contract on his head.”

“The Duhre brothers were involved in the incident that resulted in the death of one of (Nabil) Alkhalil’s brothers. Alkhalil retaliated at the time by beating up one of the Duhres. There has been bad blood since. The Duhre brothers are considered by police to be violent as are Alkhalil and his brother Mahmoud,” the documents say.

A year later, Mahmoud died in the Loft Six shooting. Sandip Duhre was one of several notorious gangsters in the nightclub when the violence broke out.

The Alkhalil family — mom, dad, five brothers and two sisters — fled the violence of the Middle East in 1990 to make successful refugee claims in Canada.

But after the death of two sons, they resettled in Ottawa in 2004 to “start life afresh,” according to Federal Court documents filed for Nabil’s unsuccessful appeal of his deportation order.

He was soon in trouble with the law again, getting caught with a duffel bag containing 11 kilograms of cocaine. He was convicted of trafficking in 2008.

Porteous said the Alkhalils became more powerful in the drug trade because of close connections they had in Mexico.

“As far as drug trafficking goes, it was a little bit of a game changer for us because you had the direct importation of drugs,” Porteous said.

But the violence continued, some of it linked to the old feud and some of it linked to disputes over drug territory that continued into this decade as each side formed new alliances.

“These things go in peaks and valleys,” Porteous said.

kbolan@postmedia.com

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United Nations gang hitman Cory Vallee should get more than eight years credit for the four-plus years he has spent in pretrial custody, his defence lawyer argued at a sentencing hearing Tuesday.

Rebecca McConchie said Vallee has been held in harsh conditions at Surrey Pretrial Centre and deserves extra credit at the rate of two days for every day he spent there awaiting trial.

She told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon that inmates at the “notorious” Surrey facility, run by B.C. Corrections, are no longer allowed to have in-person visits with family even though those visits are available to inmates at the North Fraser Pretrial jail.

“Surrey Pretrial has now ended in-person visits for inmates,” McConchie said. “So accused persons who are waiting for their trial are no longer able to see or touch their loved ones in person.”

She said Vallee even requested and received a temporary transfer to North Fraser in Port Coquitlam just so he could see his mother and grandmother.

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Kevin LeClair

“It has been something that has been very difficult for Mr. Vallee. He has been in Surrey Pretrial for over four years,” she said. “So this is another circumstance that has made Mr. Vallee’s time in Surrey Pretrial more onerous.”

McConchie told Dillon she didn’t know exactly when Surrey Pretrial changed the policy for in-person family visits.

Public safety ministry media officer Hope Latham told Postmedia that in-person visits at the Surrey facility ended in 2013 when the building was renovated.

“We had the opportunity to implement video technology for visitation, and incorporated this design in the new Okanagan Correctional Centre when it was built four years later,” she said in an email. “Incorporating video visitation will be considered at other centres when or if they are renovated or expanded.”

Vallee was convicted June 1 of the first-degree murder Red Scorpion gangster Kevin LeClair, as well as of conspiracy to kill the Bacon brothers and other Red Scorpion members.

The brazen daylight murder at a busy Langley mall in February of 2009 was part of a bloody turf war between the UN and Red Scorpion gangs that escalated when popular UN member Duane Meyer was shot to death in Abbotsford on May 8, 2008.

While the murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence with no parole for at least 25 years, prosecutors are arguing that Vallee should have to serve at least half of his conspiracy sentence before being eligible for parole.

And they submitted that Vallee should get at least 22 years for the conspiracy conviction.

McConchie argued that Vallee should serve 18 years for the conspiracy count and that he should be granted double time for his pretrial custody instead of the 1.5-to-1 ratio, which is now the norm.

Also during his incarceration in Surrey, “Mr. Vallee had restricted access to certain rehabilitative facilities that he liked to use,” McConchie said.

The issue of Vallee’s parole eligibility on the conspiracy count would only come into play if he successfully appeals his murder conviction.

Vallee has been in a B.C. jail since August 2014.

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Conor D’Monte.

He was arrested in Mexico where he had been hiding out since fleeing the province in late 2009.

Also charged in the LeClair murder is former UN gang leader Conor D’Monte, who also fled Canada and remains a fugitive.

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Two of three men charged with assaulting a Vancouver police officer Tuesday are sons of an original member of the East End Hells Angels, Postmedia has learned.

A Vancouver police officer was taken to hospital Tuesday night after he was beaten during a routine traffic stop in downtown Vancouver.

It happened at around 10 p.m. when two plainclothes officers pulled over a Dodge Durango on Robson Street after they spotted travelling through an area of Granville Street closed to private vehicles.

The VPD says the three men in the vehicle, all in their early 20s and well-known to the police, were confrontational and verbally abusive during the traffic stop.

“The officers became concerned for their safety as the occupants refused to follow police direction and began reaching under the seat,” VPD spokesman Sgt. Jason Robillard said in a news release.

The assault began when one officer opened the passenger door and the front passenger pulled him into the vehicle and two men began punching him in the face. As the other officer rushed to help, all three men got out of the vehicle and continued to assault the officers.

While the officers were waiting for backup to arrive, one of the three men ran away and was hit by a pickup truck as he crossed an intersection against a red light.

The man continued to run for two more blocks before being arrested by the uninjured officer, who was giving chase.

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“This is an example of the risk all police officers face as they work to protect the citizens they serve. This sort of incident affects the entire policing community,” said Robillard. “We wish our officer a speedy recovery and will ensure the officer and his family have the support they need.”

Troy Michael Robinson, born in 1996, and his brother Brendan John Robinson, born in 1997, both of West Vancouver, were arrested Tuesday by Vancouver police after fleeing the scene of the assault.

Both are sons of Lloyd Robinson, who retired from the Hells Angels several years ago.

The elder Robinson is the half-brother of John Bryce, the president of the East End chapter of the notorious biker gang.

Lloyd Robinson left the HA after a major undercover investigation in which police agent Micheal Plante infiltrated the gang by getting close to him.

Both Troy and Brendan Robinson are charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest along with a third man, Brian Benjamin Allen, of Victoria.

Allen is also charged with possession of stolen property worth under $5,000.

The three men currently remain in custody.

Troy and Brendan’s brother, Lloyd Robinson Jr., was convicted in 2014 of assaulting a taxi driver and breaking his nose and eye sockets. He was sentenced to 16 months in jail.

In a video of Tuesday’s incident posted to YouTube, a witness, who claims to have assisted in the arrest, can be heard questioning the arresting officer’s use of force.

“That dude kicked him in the stomach pretty hard for no reason,” the man said while pointing at the officer.

“He severely assaulted my partner and he is combative,” responded the officer.

Warning: Video contains crude language and violence

The VPD said the man who ran from the scene was lucky not to have been seriously injured. He was examined at hospital and released.

The injured police officer, meanwhile, is recovering at home.

“The injuries are to the head and face, and we consider them to be substantial injuries,” said Robillard.

Robillard was asked at a Thursday media conference if the officers, who were dressed in plainclothes, properly identified themselves as the police.

“These officers in this particular case were in plainclothes. They did pull this vehicle over with their emergency lights on their vehicle, they did identify themselves as police officers, and there is no doubt in my mind that the three occupants in the vehicle knew they were police officers — just from comments made and evidence I read,” he said.

sbrown@postmedia.com

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My colleague Scott Brown had written a story about the beating of a Vancouver Police officer after a Durango was pulled over on Robson Oct. 9.

Then I heard from a source that two of those charged are the sons of original East End chapter Hells Angel Lloyd Robinson so added in those details to Scott’s report.

Here’s our story:

Sons of original East End Hells Angel linked to assault of

Vancouver police officer

Two of three men charged with assaulting a Vancouver police officer Tuesday are sons of an original member of the East End Hells Angels, Postmedia has learned.

A Vancouver police officer was taken to hospital Tuesday night after he was beaten during a routine traffic stop in downtown Vancouver.

It happened at around 10 p.m. when two plainclothes officers pulled over a Dodge Durango on Robson Street after they spotted travelling through an area of Granville Street closed to private vehicles.

The VPD says the three men in the vehicle, all in their early 20s and well-known to the police, were confrontational and verbally abusive during the traffic stop.

“The officers became concerned for their safety as the occupants refused to follow police direction and began reaching under the seat,” VPD spokesman Sgt. Jason Robillard said in a news release.

The assault began when one officer opened the passenger door and the front passenger pulled him into the vehicle and two men began punching him in the face. As the other officer rushed to help, all three men got out of the vehicle and continued to assault the officers.

While the officers were waiting for backup to arrive, one of the three men ran away and was hit by a pickup truck as he crossed an intersection against a red light.

The man continued to run for two more blocks before being arrested by the uninjured officer, who was giving chase.

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“This is an example of the risk all police officers face as they work to protect the citizens they serve. This sort of incident affects the entire policing community,” said Robillard. “We wish our officer a speedy recovery and will ensure the officer and his family have the support they need.”

Troy Michael Robinson, born in 1996, and his brother Brendan John Robinson, born in 1997, both of West Vancouver, were arrested Tuesday by Vancouver police after fleeing the scene of the assault.

Both are sons of Lloyd Robinson, who retired from the Hells Angels several years ago.

The elder Robinson is the half-brother of John Bryce, the president of the East End chapter of the notorious biker gang.

Lloyd Robinson left the HA after a major undercover investigation in which police agent Micheal Plante infiltrated the gang by getting close to him.

Both Troy and Brendan Robinson are charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest along with a third man, Brian Benjamin Allen, of Victoria.

Allen is also charged with possession of stolen property worth under $5,000.

Troy and Brendan’s brother, Lloyd Robinson Jr., was convicted in 2014 of assaulting a taxi driver and breaking his nose and eye sockets . He was sentenced to 16 months in jail.

In a video of Tuesday’s incident posted to YouTube, a witness, who claims to have assisted in the arrest, can be heard questioning the arresting officer’s use of force.

“That dude kicked him in the stomach pretty hard for no reason,” the man said while pointing at the officer.

“He severely assaulted my partner and he is combative,” responded the officer.

Warning: Video contains crude language and violence

The VPD said the man who ran from the scene was lucky not to have been seriously injured. He was check in hospital and released.

The injured police officer, meanwhile, is recovering at home.

“The injuries are to the head and face, and we consider them to be substantial injuries,” said Robillard.

Robillard was asked at a Thursday media conference if the officers, who were dressed in plainclothes, properly identified themselves as the police.

“These officers in this particular case were in plainclothes. They did pull this vehicle over with their emergency lights on their vehicle, they did identify themselves as police officers, and there is no doubt in my mind that the three occupants in the vehicle knew they were police officers — just from comments made and evidence I read,” he said.

The B.C. director of civil forfeiture has filed a suit against a limousine owner after he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman inside the vehicle last month.

The suit, filed this week at the Victoria Law Courts, says Sukhwinder Bassarpuri is likely to use the limousine to commit further crimes if it is returned to him. The government wants the vehicle forfeited.

The civil forfeiture office says Bassarpuri owns Armani Limousine Inc. and is the operator of the 2007 Lincoln Navigator seized by Vancouver Police last month.

“On Sept. 8, 2018, the VPD received a report of a female forcibly confined within the vehicle at a parking lot in the 600-block of Denman Street,” the lawsuit says.

Officers found the vehicle and “determined the female was incapable of providing consent to engage in sexual contact. The VPD determined that Mr. Bassarpuri had sexually assaulted the female,” the court document says.

Bassarpuri has not been charged. Nor has he yet filed a statement of defence in the case against the civil forfeiture office. According to the online provincial court database, he has no criminal charges or convictions in B.C.

Vancouver Police media officer Const. Jason Doucette said Wednesday that he was unable to comment on whether there is an open investigation into the allegations. He said police never comment on sexual assault cases unless and until someone is charged.

The civil forfeiture suit said that VPD officers “arrested Mr. Bassarpuri for sexual assault” and then searched the limousine.

They found bear spray, clear baggies that tested positive for cocaine, two razor blades and a hotel key card that also tested positive for cocaine, the suit says.

The director of civil forfeiture said Bassarpuri has a history of unlawful activity, including a sexual assault of a female passenger in a limousine he was operating in July 2013.

And “on April 27, 2018, the VPD was advised Mr. Bassarpuri had sexually assaulted a female in June of 2017,” the suit says.

It also alleged he drove the limo without a chauffeur’s permit or proper licensing from the Passenger Transportation Board.

“The vehicle has been used by Mr. Bassarpuri to engage in unlawful activities which … were likely to cause serious bodily harm,” the director said.

In addition to sexual assault and forcible confinement, the director alleges Bassarpuri possessed cocaine, violated the Motor Vehicle Act, and failed to declare taxable income.

Armani Limousine was recently incorporated on Aug. 18, 2018, according to the B.C. Corporate Registry. The business lists its address as 708 Davie St. — about a block from where the civil suit alleges the sex assault occurred.

But the address listed is a pizza parlour. Someone answering the phone there Thursday said they had nothing to do with the limo company and that it was “the wrong number.”

Court records indicate that Bassarpuri was a driver for another limousine company in 2013 when he was involved in an accident in downtown Vancouver that resulted in a civil suit. And he filed a lawsuit for a December 2016 accident in Vancouver that he alleged was the fault of the other driver. In that suit, Bassarpuri says he owned a company called Encore Limousine Inc. Corporate records show the company, was started in 2014, was dissolved in 2017 for failing to file an annual report.

Bassarpuri could not be reached for comment.

kbolan@postmedia.com

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A 30-year-old Surrey man was shot to death in a targeted murder Thursday afternoon.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said the victim, Sumeet Randhawa, was known to police.

IHIT media officer, Detective Lara Jansen, said Surrey RCMP was called to the 6700-block of 130th Street just before 2 p.m.

“Responding members located the victim and attempted life-saving measures until the B.C. Ambulance Service and Surrey Fire Department took over, however the male succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased at scene,” she said.

She said IHIT is working closely with the Surrey RCMP Serious Crime Unit, the Lower Mainland Integrated Forensic Identification Services and the B.C. Coroners Service to gather evidence.

“This is believed to be a targeted incident related to the ongoing Lower Mainland gang conflict,” Jansen said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact IHIT at 1-877-551-4448 or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

The shooting comes eight days after the murder of young Abbotsford gangster Varinderpal Gill, 19, who was killed in his vehicle beside a Mission mall.

Police agencies across the country are ready for the legalization of recreational cannabis this week, Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer said Monday.

Palmer, speaking as president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said enforcement of the new rules surrounding marijuana will be shared by police, municipal bylaw officers and provincial regulators depending on the circumstances involved.

As of Wednesday, if you smoke pot in a city park or on school property, you could get ticketed by a municipal bylaw officer.

If you drive impaired after using cannabis, expect to be stopped by police and face the same consequences that a drunk driver would.

If you are selling cannabis without a licence, a provincial government investigator might target you.

“Every situation is quite different and we’ve got to kind of feel out the landscape as we go forward because it is not a black and white thing that police are just doing this, the community safety units are doing this, the bylaw officers are doing that,” Palmer told journalists at a Vancouver news conference. “We have to all get used to how this new regime is going to work.”

Palmer said he doesn’t expect any big immediate crackdown by police against cannabis businesses that don’t yet have provincial licences.

“October 17 is going to come, then October 18, and then October 19,” he said. “You are probably not going to see a whole big change with regard to what the police are doing or anyone else is doing.”

He said Canadians should be aware “that different infractions involve difference agencies and different response times depending on the risk to public safety.”

And that means police will continue to target high-level organized criminals involved in cannabis production, smuggling or black market sales, Palmer said.

“We know organized crime will attempt to capitalize on the legalization of cannabis. On this front, the (association of police chiefs) supports any initiative that dissuades Canadians from turning to the black market to obtain cannabis,” he said.

“We’re doing everything we can to stop organized crime from becoming involved in both the medical and recreational marijuana industries.”

Palmer said the new regulatory regime will provide clearer guidelines on how to deal with storefront sellers such as those that have been operating in Vancouver in “a grey area” for years.

“As far as cannabis dispensaries or stores, that is going to be an interesting one and that will vary across the country,” he said. “Here in Vancouver, we do have a high percentage of cannabis stores compared to other places in the country. So now that law will actually become clearer and it will assist us in that regard.”

Palmer said that while “the legal recreational use of cannabis will be new for Canadians come Wednesday, enforcing laws around impaired driving and the illegal production, distribution and consumption of cannabis will not be new to police.”

While some policing agencies like the VPD have decided against using the federally approved Drager DrugTest 5000 to test drivers suspected of cannabis impairment, Palmer said there are other effective roadside tests.

Across Canada, there are currently 13,000 officers trained in standard field sobriety. Another 7,000 are expected to be trained in the next few years. And there are 833 certified drug recognition experts with another 500 in training, Palmer said.

But he also said police will still have higher priorities than enforcing new cannabis laws.

“Marijuana is important, but it is not the most important thing going on in the country right now. Fentanyl, for example, kills 11 Canadians a day. Marijuana certainly doesn’t. There are more pressing issues going on in public safety.”

Palmer said the public should also understand that “not all issues or concerns related to the legalization of cannabis can or will be resolved on day one or in one day.”

“Police will continue to respond to emergencies and imminent public safety issues, but enforcing the new laws and regulations will be an ongoing process involving a phased approach over weeks, months, and years. The police are ready to adapt based on experience, lessons learned, and the actual reality in each of our communities.”

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The B.C. government will have a team of 44 special constables around the province to investigate unlicensed cannabis stores.

But no enforcement action is expected until more licensed stores are opened, a spokesman for the B.C. Public Safety Ministry said Wednesday.

Colin Hynes said hiring of the special constables, known as the community safety unit, began in the summer and many of the officers are now in place. The unit is part of the Public Safety Ministry, while the expanded liquor and cannabis regulation branch is under the Ministry of the Attorney General.

“The CSU hopes to achieve voluntary compliance through education and outreach. Illegal sellers who do not come into compliance, either by obtaining a provincial retail licence or by ceasing their operations, may be subject to enforcement action, which may include seizure of product, administrative monetary penalties and/or prosecution,” Hynes said in a statement.

“Illegal sellers will not be shut down over night.  But as legal retail stores open up across the province, there will be increasing enforcement action to close any illegal retailers that remain.”

Earlier this week, Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer, president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said enforcement of new cannabis laws will be shared between police agencies and different levels of government.

Municipal bylaw officers are expected to ticket people caught using cannabis in banned areas like parks or school grounds.

Provincial regulators will look after licensing stores and investigators those operating without licences.

And police will continued to crack down on drivers impaired by either alcohol or drugs, as well as investigating any organized crime involvement in cannabis production, distribution or smuggling.

RCMP officers in B.C. are also ready for Wednesday’s changes, Sgt. Janelle Shoihet said.

“We have the tools and resources in place, including officer training, on new cannabis legislation,” Shoihet said.

“The RCMP in British Columbia has increased its capacity in the areas of prevention and engagement, intelligence, training, systems modifications and data collection, security screening, operational policy, and to provide subject-matter expertise to RCMP officers and law enforcement partners on the implementation of the Cannabis Act.”

She said the force has “officers who are drug recognition experts and officers who are trained to do the standard field sobriety testing to identify and remove impaired drivers from our roads.”

“While the legal recreational use of cannabis may be new, the enforcement of laws around the illegal production, distribution and consumption of cannabis as well as drug-impaired driving is not new to the police,” she said.

Hynes said violations of the provincial cannabis law could be prosecuted in court.

“But in many cases, they are dealt with by violation ticket.  Examples of provincial offences that can be dealt with by violation ticket include smoking cannabis in places where it is prohibited, possession of more than 30 grams of cannabis in public, and transporting cannabis in a car that is in an open package and accessible to the driver and passengers,” he said.

Many of the offences listed in provincial legislation are also criminal offences under the federal Cannabis Act, he said.

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The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team hopes the public can identify suspects in a Surrey murder captured last week on video surveillance footage.

Cpl. Frank Jang said Wednesday that detectives obtained the video after canvassing the neighbourhood where Sumeet Randhawa was shot and killed  Oct. 11.

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Stolen Hummer used in murder of Sumeet Randhawa Oct. 11, 2018

The video shows a Hummer H3 arriving in the 6700-block of 129 Street shortly after 2:00 p.m. in tandem with what investigators believe to be a 2012 to 2014 blue Ford Focus.

“An unknown person then exited the driver’s seat of the Hummer H3 and got into the passenger side of the blue Ford Focus before it left the area,” Jang said in a news release.

Minutes after the murder,  police found an abandoned and stolen black Hummer H3 with Washington state license plates in the same block where Randhawa was killed.

“We believe that this video surveillance footage captured those responsible for the murder of Sumeet Randhawa,”  Jang said.  “We urge anyone with information about the individuals and vehicles seen in the video surveillance footage, to come forward to IHIT immediately.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact IHIT 1-877-551-4448 or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

The gun violence across the Lower Mainland continued Thursday with a targeted murder in Abbotsford.

Sgt. Judy Bird, of the Abbotsford Police Department, said in a news released that police received reports of shots fired in front of a business in the 32000-block of South Fraser Way about 6:43 p.m. Thursday.

“Upon arrival, officers located a deceased male,” she said. “We are in the early stages of this investigation; however, the initial indications suggest this appears to be a targeted incident.”

Abby PD major crime investigators are on the scene, but the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has been called in to take over the file.

Anyone with information should contact IHIT at 1-877-551-4448 or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

MORE TO COME…

The man shot to death in Abbotsford on Thursday evening is the elder brother of Gavin Grewal, the gang leader murdered in his penthouse apartment last December, Postmedia News has learned.

Mandeep Grewal was gunned down outside the front door of a bank in the 32000-block of South Fraser Way about 6:43 p.m.

Grewal was not believed to be involved in the ongoing gang conflict, but could have been targeted as retribution for murders linked to his brother’s gang — the Brothers’ Keepers.

Gavin, and another brother Manbir, have both been the subject of public warnings by police because of their involvement in the regional gang war.

Cpl. Frank Jang of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said police are hoping to obtain dash-cam video from drivers near the shooting scene.

“A dark-coloured vehicle left the area of the shooting at a high rate of speed,” Jang said.

A grey Infiniti sedan was found burning in the 6600-block of 238 St. in Langley about 15 minutes later.

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IHIT believes the murder of Gavinder Grewal, 30, was a targeted hit. Grewal was shot dead Dec. 22, 2017 in a residence in the 1500 block of Fern Street in North Vancouver.

“This vehicle is believed to be associated to the earlier shooting. Drivers with dash-cam video who passed through this area at this time are asked to contact IHIT immediately,” Jang said.

“This was a brazen shooting in a public area. We are fortunate that no one else was harmed.”

He added, “our victim was targeted for murder and this incident is linked to the ongoing gang conflict in the Lower Mainland.”

Sgt. Brenda Winpenny of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit said CFSEU is working with its partner agencies around the region to combat the gunplay.

“We are obviously seeing an escalation in the tit-for-tat violence in association to the conflict between the rival gang groups,” Winpenny said Friday.

Related

• Mom of Red Scorpion gangster still devastated nine years after son's murder
• Gang murders linked to internal disputes, conflicts in prison
• Fatal flashpoint: Gurmit Dhak's 2010 murder ignited a gang war that's still raging

“The public should take necessary steps to ensure that they are being vigilant in their personal safety and being aware of their surroundings because obviously these guys have no regard for public safety.”

Mandeep Grewal’s murder came almost a year after Randy Kang was shot to death in Surrey last Oct. 27 — a killing blamed on the Brothers’ Keepers that was part of a series of shootings throughout Metro Vancouver.

Gavin Grewal was murdered in North Vancouver on Dec. 22, 2017. No one has yet been charged, although police released surveillance video last June of possible suspects.

Police earlier told Postmedia that the Brothers’ Keepers had links to the Red Scorpion gang, but split into different factions that were in conflict with each other. Gavin Grewal led one group and the Kang brothers were associates-turned-rivals.

Several people linked to the Kangs and the Red Scorpions were arrested in August after a lengthy Vancouver Police Department investigation and charged with trafficking, possession of firearms and other counts.

In addition to their internal conflict, the former allies have also been battling other drug traffickers aligned with the United Nations gang and associates in the Fraser Valley.

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Varinderpal Singh Gill, 19, was shot to death in Mission Oct. 3, 2018

October has been a busy month for homicide investigators.

On Oct. 11, Sumeet Randhawa, 30, was shot to death in the 6700-block of 130 St. in Surrey.

On Oct. 4, 27-year-old Kyle Cromarty was murdered on Yale Road in Chilliwack.

A day earlier, Abbotsford resident Varinderpal Gill, 19, was gunned down inside his vehicle in Mission.

Gill’s murder is believed to have been in retaliation for the shooting death of 19-year-old Gagandeep Singh Dhaliwal in Abbotsford on Aug. 4.

Another Brothers’ Keeper gangster Matthew Alexander Navas-Rivas was shot to death in East Vancouver on July 25.

Anyone with information about the latest murders is asked to contact IHIT at 1-877-551-4448, or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

kbolan@postmedia.com

Related

• Mom of Red Scorpion gangster still devastated nine years after son's murder
• Gang murders linked to internal disputes, conflicts in prison
• Fatal flashpoint: Gurmit Dhak's 2010 murder ignited a gang war that's still raging

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