Mandeep Grewal had no criminal record and was not involved in the gang life his two younger brothers Gavin and Manbir had chosen. But he still ended up a victim of deadly gun violence. He was shot to death in Abbotsford Thursday night.

Here’s my story:

Abbotsford murder victim was brother of gang boss

slain last December

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.

“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.”

Gavinder Grewal is shown in this undated police handout photo.

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.

“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.

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

An alleged Vancouver Island drug trafficker acquitted earlier this year because police violated his Charter rights is now the subject of a civil forfeiture lawsuit.

The director of civil forfeiture filed the suit against Mill Bay resident Frank Whitton last week, trying to get more than $18,000 seized from him during a 2014 investigation forfeited to the government agency.

Last April, a B.C. Supreme Court judge acquitted Whitton on drug trafficking and firearms offences, saying West Shore RCMP had breached his constitutional rights several times during their investigation.

Justice Brian MacKenzie also said there was “little doubt” that Whitton was in fact involved in drug trafficking despite the botched investigation that resulted in the evidence being thrown out.

MacKenzie ruled that to use the evidence seized after police omitted information from their search warrant applications “would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.”

“The overall manner in which the evidence in support of the warrant was presented in this case raises significant concerns respecting the basis upon which the warrant was obtained,” MacKenzie said. “After considering the totality of the circumstances and the overall magnitude of the Charter violations in this case, I have been persuaded that the admission of the evidence found as a result of the … searches would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.”

In an earlier ruling, MacKenzie also said that police violated Whitton’s rights when he was first arrested in April 2014.

The same evidence excluded in the criminal case is cited in the lawsuit by the director of civil forfeiture, filed Oct. 18.

The suit said Whitton was stopped by police on April 24, 2014, “after making several suspected illegal drug transactions.”

Police found 66 spitballs of cocaine, 18 baggies of marijuana and three cell phones in his vehicle, the suit noted.

Later that day, police executed a search warrant at his Mill Bay house and found 331 marijuana plants and 5,346 grams of dried marijuana in bags. They also found an SKS rifle, a restricted Sig Sauer 9 mm handgun, a prohibited 27-round magazine, ammunition, pepper spray and body armour.

More marijuana, cocaine, heroin and cash was found at a second residence searched that Whitton had been seen visiting.

Whitton was arrested again in November 2014 and police found more cocaine and pot packaged for sale, as well as more than $5,000 cash.

The lawsuit said that Whitton filed a “notice of dispute” on Sept. 28, 2018, claiming an interest in the money seized four years earlier.

But the director said the cash should not be returned to him, as it is “proceeds and an instrument of unlawful activity.”

“Mr. Whitton did not have legitimate income to have acquired the money,” the suit said. “Mr. Whitton obtained the money by participating in the unlawful activity.”

Whitton has not yet filed a response to the lawsuit.

In the April ruling that resulted in Whitton’s acquittal, MacKenzie also said the public would lose confidence in the judiciary “if criminal trials are permitted to proceed on the strength of evidence obtained from the most private place in the home on the basis of misleading, inaccurate, and incomplete information upon which a search warrant was issued.”

“Justice is blind in the sense that it pays no heed to the social status or personal characteristics of the litigants,” MacKenzie said. “But justice receives a black eye when it turns a blind eye to unconstitutional searches and seizures as a result of unacceptable police conduct or practices.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

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A high-profile Hells Angel is trying to get released on bail after being charged earlier this year with conspiracy to murder two rival gangsters in 2012.

A three-day hearing began in B.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday to determine whether Larry Amero, 41, will be released into the community pending his trial. Evidence and submissions made during the hearing at the Vancouver Law Courts are covered by a routine ban on publication.

Amero, a member of the West Point chapter of the notorious biker gang, appeared in red prison garb, wearing horn-rimmed glasses, his hair long and tied in a ponytail.

He flipped through a folder of documents during the proceedings, held before Justice Brenda Brown in a high-security courtroom.

Some of Amero’s family members sat in the public gallery, as did two police officers.

Hells Angel Larry Ronald Amero in file photo

Amero was arrested in Ottawa in January and brought back to B.C. on charges that he plotted to kill Sandip Duhre and Sukh Dhak.

Duhre was shot to death in the Sheraton Wall Centre in downtown Vancouver on Jan. 17, 2012. Dhak was gunned down outside the Executive Hotel in Burnaby on Nov. 26, 2012.

Amero was seriously wounded in the Aug. 14, 2011, shooting in Kelowna that left Red Scorpion gangster Jonathan Bacon dead and Independent Soldier James Riach uninjured.

Sukh Dhak was gunned down outside the Executive Hotel in Burnaby on Nov. 26, 2012.

At the time, The Vancouver Sun reported the trio had formed a new gang alliance called the Wolf Pack.

The Kelowna trial of three gangsters who pleaded guilty last May to playing roles in the 2011 shooting heard that Dhak was one of the masterminds of the plot.

The Kelowna trial also heard that Amero was shot in the face, wrist and chest as he, Bacon, Riach and two women were driving away from the Delta Grande Hotel in a Porsche Cayenne after a weekend of boating and partying in the Okanagan city.

On Wednesday, Amero showed no obvious outward signs of the injuries he suffered seven years ago.

Paramedics tend to Larry Amero at the scene of Jonathan Bacon’s murder.

The Sun earlier reported that Amero was arrested in Montreal in November 2012 and charged in a major cocaine smuggling case. He remained in pretrial custody in Quebec until his charges were stayed in 2017 after his lawyer successfully argued that the case took too long to get to trial.

Amero has worked as a longshoreman in B.C. and even sponsored a fellow Hells Angel for membership in his union while in custody back east.

Also charged in connection with the Duhre and Dhak murders are Rabih (Robby) Alkhalil and Dean Wiwchar. Both men remain in custody.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

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I was in court Monday for the resumption of the civil trial between the Hells Angels and the director of civil forfeiture, who wants three biker clubhouses forfeited to the government. The case was caught up in some motions and applications so nothing worth writing a story about just yet. But I will continue to follow it through the fall as more witnesses are called.

And I was back at B.C. Supreme Court Wednesday as a bail hearing for Hells Angel Larry Amero began. Due to a ban, I couldn’t report specifics of the information that came out in court, but have written a short story. I will be allowed to report on whether or not he gets bail, but not on the judges’ reasons either way.

Here’s my story:

A high-profile Hells Angel is trying to get released on bail after being charged earlier this year with conspiracy to murder two rival gangsters in 2012.

A three-day hearing began in B.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday to determine whether Larry Amero, 41, will be released into the community pending his trial. Evidence and submissions made during the hearing at the Vancouver Law Courts are covered by a routine ban on publication.

Amero, a member of the West Point chapter of the notorious biker gang, appeared in red prison garb, wearing horn-rimmed glasses, his hair long and tied in a ponytail.

He flipped through a folder of documents during the proceedings, held before Justice Brenda Brown in a high-security courtroom.

Some of Amero’s family members sat in the public gallery, as did two police officers.

Amero was arrested in Ottawa in January and brought back to B.C. on charges that he plotted to kill Sandip Duhre and Sukh Dhak.

Duhre was shot to death in the Sheraton Wall Centre in downtown Vancouver on Jan. 17, 2012. Dhak was gunned down outside the Executive Hotel in Burnaby on Nov. 26, 2012.

Amero was seriously wounded in the Aug. 14, 2011, shooting in Kelowna that left Red Scorpion gangster Jonathan Bacon dead and Independent Soldier James Riach uninjured.

At the time, The Vancouver Sun reported the trio had formed a new gang alliance called the Wolf Pack.

The Kelowna trial of three gangsters who pleaded guilty last May to playing roles in the 2011 shooting heard that Dhak was one of the masterminds of the plot.

The Kelowna trial also heard that Amero was shot in the face, wrist and chest as he, Bacon, Riach and two women were driving away from the Delta Grande Hotel in a Porsche Cayenne after a weekend of boating and partying in the Okanagan city.

On Wednesday, Amero showed no obvious outward signs of the injuries he suffered seven years ago.

The Sun earlier reported that Amero was arrested in Montreal in November 2012 and charged in a major cocaine smuggling case. He remained in pretrial custody in Quebec until his charges were stayed in 2017 after his lawyer successfully argued that the case took too long to get to trial.

Amero has worked as a longshoreman in B.C. and even sponsored a fellow Hells Angel for membership in his union while in custody back east.

Rabih “Robby” Alkhalil

Also charged in connection with the Duhre and Dhak murders are Rabih (Robby) Alkhalil and Dean Wiwchar. Both men remain in custody.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

Last year, when officers raided the Devils Army clubhouse in Campbell River, president Ricky Alexander said he had no idea what was going on.

Now Alexander has been charged with the first-degree murder of Dillon Brown, whose body was found in the trunk of a car on March 12, 2016.

Here’s my story:

The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C. and the Vancouver Island major-crime unit executed a search warrant at a Devils Army clubhouse at 70 Petersen Rd. in Campbell River on Thursday, Aug. 10, in relation to the 2016 murder of Dillon Brown. [PNG Merlin Archive]
Submitted, CFSEU B.C., PNG

A prominent Hells Angels associate who leads the Devil’s Army support club in Campbell River has been charged with the 2016 murder of a promising MMA fighter and young father.

Richard Ernest “Ricky” Alexander, 63, was arrested Friday afternoon in a parking lot in Campbell River and charged with killing John “Dillon” Brown, 30.

Brown was found dead inside the trunk of his grey Honda Accord on March 12, 2016, near Sayward, northwest of Campbell River. He was last seen leaving a Campbell River residence about 1 p.m. the day before.

Officers from the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit executed a search warrant in connection with Brown’s death at the Devils Army clubhouse last year.

At the time, Alexander told Postmedia that he didn’t know why police were there and wouldn’t comment until he found out.

CFSEU Sgt. Brenda Winpenny said Friday that the anti-gang agency worked with police from the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit on the “very active” murder investigation, which involved over 200 officers.

She said Alexander is being held in custody on Vancouver Island pending his next court appearance.

CFSEU Chief Officer Trent Rolfe said the charge is “particularly significant as it involves a long-time, high-ranking member of an outlaw motorcycle club.”

Alexander owns the building housing the clubhouse at 70 Petersen Rd., which was assessed last year as being worth $311,000, property records show.

He also owns a 13-acre property in Mission, assessed at just over $1 million, where he lives. And he owns condos in Burnaby and Pitt Meadows worth a total of $714,000, according to land titles obtained by Postmedia.

The Devils Army opened in Campbell River in 2009. Police say the 1% biker gang, which has five full-patch members and two strikers, or prospects, is affiliated with the Haney chapter of the more notorious Hells Angels.

Alexander and three others applied to trademark the helmeted skull logo that is the centre of the Devils Army’s three-piece patch on May 22, 2009. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office finally approved the trademark in 2012, records show.

The back patch for the Devil’s Army from Campbell River, B.C., one of a series of puppet clubs of the Hell’s Angels, police say. Photo: 2009

Alexander describes himself on land title records as a businessman and a forestry consultant. Back in 2001, at a sentencing hearing for a firearms charge, his lawyer said Alexander was an experienced arborist, owned a trucking company, and was partners in a granite quarry in Suriname.

The 2001 conviction stemmed from his arrest near an East Vancouver house associated with friends of suspects in the murder a month earlier of prominent Hells Angel Donald Roming.

At the time, Alexander had a loaded pink handgun in his waistband and a list of names and descriptions in the glove compartment of his rental car. The first name on the list was the person that police identified as the main suspect in Roming’s murder. Police also found a black toque and dark clothing in the car, as well as a second loaded handgun in the trunk.

Alexander pleaded guilty to a single count of possessing a loaded prohibited weapon and was sentenced to 22 months.

At his sentencing hearing, the Crown said there was a clear connection to the murder of Roming, who was gunned down March 9, 2001, outside a downtown nightclub.

Before he was shot, Roming had argued with two men in the club. The dispute spilled outside, ending with the fatal shooting. The suspects fled before police arrived, but others at the crime scene shouted their names to police. Friends of Roming’s also heard the names.

Police were watching the East Vancouver house linked to the suspects on April 4, 2001, when they saw Alexander in black clothing lurking near the rear of the residence and then circling the block. He later got into a leased Budget rental car and circled the block again, before leaving and going to a Burnaby address and then to a place in Mission.

When Alexander returned the following night, police stopped him and found a .22-calibre semi-automatic subcompact handgun in his waistband and another .22-calibre handgun in the trunk.

In the glove compartment, they found two handwritten pages listing the name of the prime suspect in the Roming shooting and three of his friends. The list included addresses for the men and, in some cases their families, vehicle descriptions and licence plate numbers, and physical descriptions of the men — including, in some cases, height, weight and whether they had any tattoos.

Alexander denied acting on behalf of the Hells Angels.

His lawyer told the judge in 2001 that his client had a “troubled youth” and had an extensive criminal record that included armed robbery, break and enter, and drug trafficking.

RCMP Asst. Commissioner Kevin Hacket said Friday that police across the country “are committed to ensuring that outlaw motorcycle gangs and their associates remain a priority due to the level of violence and harm they inflict on our communities.”

“This investigation showcases that a collaborative, coordinated and focused approach can gather the evidence necessary to ensure that those responsible are brought before the courts,” Hackett said.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

A prominent Hells Angels associate who leads the Devils Army support club in Campbell River has been charged with the 2016 murder of a promising MMA fighter and young father.

Richard Ernest “Ricky” Alexander, 63, was arrested Friday afternoon in a parking lot in Campbell River and charged with killing John “Dillon” Brown, 30.

Brown was found dead inside the trunk of his grey Honda Accord on March 12, 2016, near Sayward, northwest of Campbell River. He was last seen leaving a Campbell River residence about 1 p.m. the day before.

Officers from the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit executed a search warrant in connection with Brown’s death at the Devils Army clubhouse last year.

At the time, Alexander told Postmedia he didn’t know why police were there and wouldn’t comment until he found out.

Richard ‘Ricky’ Alexander, president of the Hells Angels support club Devils Army, in 2017.

CFSEU Sgt. Brenda Winpenny said Friday that the anti-gang agency worked with police from the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit on the “very active” murder investigation, which involved over 200 officers.

She said Alexander is being held in custody on Vancouver Island pending his next court appearance.

CFSEU Chief Officer Trent Rolfe said the charge is “particularly significant as it involves a long-time, high-ranking member of an outlaw motorcycle club.”

Alexander owns the building housing the clubhouse at 70 Petersen Rd., which was assessed last year as being worth $311,000, property records show.

He also owns a 13-acre property in Mission, assessed at just over $1 million, where he lives. And he owns condos in Burnaby and Pitt Meadows worth a total of $714,000, according to land titles obtained by Postmedia.

The Devils Army opened in Campbell River in 2009. Police say the 1% biker gang, which has five full-patch members and two strikers, or prospects, is affiliated with the Haney chapter of the more notorious Hells Angels.

Alexander and three others applied to trademark the helmeted skull logo that is the centre of the Devils Army’s three-piece patch on May 22, 2009. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office finally approved the trademark in 2012, records show.

Alexander describes himself on land title records as a businessman and a forestry consultant. Back in 2001, at a sentencing hearing for a firearms charge, his lawyer said Alexander was an experienced arborist, owned a trucking company, and was partners in a granite quarry in Suriname.

The 2001 conviction stemmed from his arrest near an east Vancouver house associated with friends of suspects in the murder a month earlier of prominent Hells Angel Donald Roming.

At the time, Alexander had a loaded pink handgun in his waistband and a list of names and descriptions in the glove compartment of his rental car. The first name on the list was the person police identified as the main suspect in Roming’s murder. Police also found a black toque and dark clothing in the car, as well as a second loaded handgun in the trunk.

Alexander pleaded guilty to a single count of possessing a loaded prohibited weapon and was sentenced to 22 months.

At his sentencing hearing, the Crown said there was a clear connection to the murder of Roming, who was gunned down March 9, 2001, outside a downtown nightclub.

Before he was shot, Roming had argued with two men in the club. The dispute spilled outside, ending with the fatal shooting. The suspects fled before police arrived, but others at the crime scene shouted their names to police. Friends of Roming’s also heard the names.

Police were watching the east Vancouver house linked to the suspects on April 4, 2001, when they saw Alexander in black clothing lurking near the rear of the residence and then circling the block. He later got into a leased Budget rental car and circled the block again, before leaving and going to a Burnaby address and then to a place in Mission.

Richard ‘Ricky’ Alexander, president of the Devils Army biker club, in 2012.

When Alexander returned the following night, police stopped him and found a .22-calibre semi-automatic subcompact handgun in his waistband and another .22-calibre handgun in the trunk.

In the glove compartment, they found two handwritten pages listing the name of the prime suspect in the Roming shooting and three of his friends. The list included addresses for the men and, in some cases, their families, vehicle descriptions and licence plate numbers, and physical descriptions of the men — including, in some cases, height, weight and whether they had any tattoos.

Alexander denied acting on behalf of the Hells Angels.

His lawyer told the judge in 2001 that his client had a “troubled youth” and had an extensive criminal record that included armed robbery, break and enter, and drug trafficking.

RCMP Asst. Commissioner Kevin Hacket said Friday that police across the country “are committed to ensuring that outlaw motorcycle gangs and their associates remain a priority due to the level of violence and harm they inflict on our communities.”

“This investigation showcases that a collaborative, co-ordinated and focused approach can gather the evidence necessary to ensure that those responsible are brought before the courts,” Hackett said.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

When Yong Long Ye was arrested almost 11 years ago, police described him as the “head of the snake” of an international trafficking gang who owned luxury properties and moved tens of millions in drugs and cash.

Since getting day parole earlier this year, he has been living a less glamorous life, staying in a halfway house and working as a painter, parole documents state.

The Parole Board of Canada ruled Oct. 15 that Ye, now 51, could remain on day parole because he no longer presents “an undue risk to society.”

“Your release will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your reintegration into society as a law-abiding citizen,” board members Mike Sanford and Christopher Sullivan said in their written ruling.

Ye was sentenced to 18 years in jail in 2008 after pleading guilty in B.C. Supreme Court to conspiracy to import and traffic cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as laundering the proceeds of crime.

Ye’s criminal empire involved associates across Canada, in Australia, the U.S., Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan, India and China, according to submissions at his sentencing hearing. He was buying cocaine in California and transporting it to Canada, as well as manufacturing meth for sale in Australia.

The parole board documents don’t indicate where the former Vancouver resident is living now, but both Sanford and Sullivan are based in Ontario.

While on continued day parole, Ye has been ordered “not to associate with any person you know or have reason to believe is involved in criminal activity, which includes any known gang member, organized crime member or any of their associates.”

And he must work or go to school.

Ye is not allowed to have more than one cellphone, must stay away from casinos, and must report details of his finances, the board ruled.

The parole board ruling noted that Ye was described as the “operating mind” of a criminal organization that operated for at least seven years.

“Prior to your arrest, you were making plans to flee Canada and authorities believe you have financial monetary resources hidden and available to you,” the board said.

Sanford and Sullivan noted that while no victim impact statements had been filed in Ye’s case, “the amount and types of drugs involved (cocaine and methamphetamine) were such that it is reasonable to conclude that you contributed to the significant harm suffered by drug addicts, their families, and their communities.”

The parole board members said Ye had not demonstrated much remorse over the years, but said the inmate’s prison case management team thinks that could be the result of “language barriers.”

Ye came to Canada in 1989 as a landed immigrant and obtained his Canadian citizenship.

The board said he declared a low income, “but you lived in very expensive real estate and you were the beneficial owner of expensive real estate.”

“Some of the real estate was seized as proceeds of crime but you have also indicated that some of it, as well as some expensive vehicles, were returned to your family,” the board said.

Ye had no criminal convictions in Canada prior to his guilty plea, but he was earlier charged with trafficking and possession of a restricted or prohibited weapon with ammunition. The charges were dismissed.

He was also charged with assault, extortion and threatening the landlord of a building where he had been running a grow-op. The landlord found the grow-op and dismantled it, after which Ye allegedly threatened him, demanded $20,000 in compensation, then assaulted the man.

“The charges were stayed because the victim left Canada and was unable to testify,” the ruling said.

kbolan@postmedia.com

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Yong Ye has served a decade behind bars after pleading guilty in 2008 to leading an international drug trafficking organization. At his sentencing hearing in December 2008, the Crown described just a few months in 2007 when his gang moved “over $4 million between Toronto and Vancouver” using couriers flying on commercial flights with packages containing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Some of that cash was intercepted by police, who opened luggage at Vancouver airport, photographed the vacuum-packed bundles and then re-packed it in the luggage so the courier could unwittingly claim the bags and deliver the money to Ye.

He was handed an 18-year sentence during which he filed lawsuits against the Correctional Service Canada for the lack of programs he could assess.

Now he’s out on day parole.

Here’s my story:

For more than an hour as they drove down Highway 97 in the back of a B.C. Corrections van on Oct. 4, inmates pounded on the walls and shouted for help.

They were worried that fellow passenger Alex Joseph was dying of a drug overdose, after watching him slump to the floor, at first snoring heavily, but later turning blue.

The jail guards driving the van from Prince George to Maple Ridge stopped for coffee in Williams Lake, but didn’t respond to their shouts, three of the inmates who were also in the van told Postmedia this week.

When the van finally pulled over, north of 100 Mile House, Joseph, 36, was unresponsive. A passerby stopped and performed CPR, but he was gone.

His brother, Joseph Antoine, said Friday that he has a lot of questions about how his brother ended up dead while in the care of B.C. Corrections.

“For sure, it is upsetting,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense. I would like to know why and how this happened.”

Gordon Hansen, in custody on fraud charges, was in the same compartment as Joseph — each handcuffed and shackled — when the other inmate appeared to pass out after snorting something.

“We go around a corner and he can’t brace himself, so he slides off the seat onto me and then falls onto the floor,” Hansen said in a phone interview from Fraser Regional Correctional Centre.

“I took his leg up, slapping him, trying to get him up, but he’s snoring, so I know he is alive.”

Joseph later stopped snoring and his hand was blue. Hansen checked his breathing. He thought the officers in the cab would see Joseph on cameras they monitor.

But the van passed through Quesnel and continued on to Williams Lake without anyone checking on Joseph.

Hansen thinks the van was about 50 kilometres south of Williams Lake when it finally stopped.

“When they got me out, there was already an RCMP (officer) there, lights flashing,” he said.

Hansen said paramedics did not arrive for a long time — he thinks 40 minutes to an hour. Joseph was dead, but still in shackles and handcuffs.

Keghan Cosh was in the next compartment, but was able to see Joseph collapse onto the floor.

“Just before Williams Lake, I could see that his hand was just blue. He was going under. He was done. He needed a naloxone shot and he would have been fine,” Cosh said in an interview from Fraser Regional.

“We were banging (on the van walls) at this time, maybe 10 or 20 minutes before Williams Lake. Maybe for half an hour, we were like screaming at the top of our lungs: ‘This guy is in overdose. Pull over, man.’”

Cosh thinks the officers just assumed they were misbehaving, “Which is understandable. I get it.”

But he thinks they should have noticed on their cameras that Joseph was in distress.

“For anyone to be treated the way that guy was treated is inhumane,” said Cosh, who has struggled with addiction himself and is serving a sentence for theft under $5,000.

In a statement, B.C. Corrections official Cindy Rose said “any in-custody death is a tragedy and our thoughts are with the family and friends of this individual.”

She also said her agency is conducting “a formal review of the circumstances to make recommendations that may reduce the likelihood of a similar incident in the future.”

“Staff in the cab of vehicles can monitor inmates via cameras mounted in the passenger compartment, supplemented by a two-way communications system,” the statement said.

The government did not respond to specific questions about what the inmates said happened before Joseph died.

The inmates also said they were being moved because of staffing shortages at the Prince George jail.

Rose said only that inmates are transported between provincial jails “on an as-needed basis.”

Andy Watson, of the B.C. Coroners Service, said an investigation is underway to determine “the official cause of death official and any contributory factors.”

Joseph was a member of the Lhts’umsyoo, or bear clan, in the Tl’azt’en Nation, northwest of Prince George.

He had battled addiction for years and been in and out of jail. At the time of his death, he was in pre-trial custody on a number of charges, including assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats.

His family said he told them he was determined to go to treatment once he was out.

Inmate Josh Suvee-Forsythe said this week that he is still rattled by what he witnessed on Oct. 4.

He was beside Cosh in the B.C. Corrections van when he saw Joseph crumple to the ground.

“We knew something was wrong right there,” said Suvee-Forsythe, who is also in Fraser Regional serving a 665-day sentence for robbery. “We were doing everything we could to get the guards to respond. We covered the cameras. They just slammed on the brakes to make us fall down.”

Suvee-Forsythe said Joseph’s death was preventable and he wants his family to know they really tried to save his life.

“At the top of our lungs we were just screaming,” he said. “Looking at his skin — his hands were purple. His face was purple. He wasn’t moving.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

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The death Oct. 4 of Alex Joseph while he was being transported by B.C. Corrections from Prince George to Maple Ridge leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Why didn’t the guards driving the van carrying Joseph and several other inmates stop when the inmates began shouting and pounding that Joseph was in medical distress?

And why are the conditions to transport these inmates so poor? No seat belts, no breaks for hours, sitting on hard metal benches for up to 10 hours. B.C. can do better than this.

Here’s my story:

The brother of slain Burnaby mother Kimberly Hallgarth said Monday that he hoped charges laid against her former boyfriend in the 2009 cold case might finally bring the family closure.

“We recognize that nothing can bring Kim back. However, we need and deserve closure and are glad to see this next step today,” ‎Jamie Errand said in a statement released by police at a Surrey news conference Monday.

At the same time, her accused killer, Joshua Joseph Boden, 32, appeared briefly in Vancouver provincial court and was remanded in custody until Dec. 10.

His lawyer Kevin Westell said outside the courthouse that Boden maintains his innocence in the murder, as he has done over the past nine years.

“These allegations have been out in the local media for the entirety of that time. Mr. Boden has been unwavering in his denial of his guilt in this matter,” Westell said.

Westell said he and fellow defence lawyer David Ferguson are still waiting for disclosure in the case.

“We will have a chance to review the disclosure and we will take it from there,” Westell said.

He wouldn’t say if Boden, a former professional football player, would make a bail application in B.C. Supreme Court.

Josh Boden has been charged with the 2009 murder of his ex-girlfriend Kimberly Hallgarth. Hallgarth’s body was found inside a Burnaby home.

Two friends of Hallgarth’s had been in courtroom 101 for the proceedings earlier in the morning, but left before Boden finally arrived close to 11 a.m. Both declined to comment.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said at the news conference the “new evidence … significantly advanced the investigation.”

Insp. Dave Chauhan, the acting head of IHIT, thanked Hallgarth’s family for its patience over the years.

“I realize the past nine years have been very difficult on Kim’s family and my deepest condolences go out to them,” he said. “I hope the news of someone being held accountable for Kim’s death brings some semblance of peace.”

He said the charge stemmed from “excellent foundational work as laid by investigators nine years ago, which continued into the present day by detectives of our specialized IHIT cold case team.”

Hallgarth, 33, was found dead inside her home on Colborne Ave. about 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 15, 2009. She had dated Boden for about eight months.

Errand, who asked for privacy for his family, thanked investigators for their “hard work”.

“We have waited nearly 10 long years for this moment and are relieved that closure is in sight. Only we know the unimaginable grief that our family has been going through and the toll it has taken on every family member,” he said. “What we have been going through is something that no family should ever have to experience.”

Boden, who briefly played in the CFL for the B.C. Lions and the Hamilton Tiger-cats, has had repeated interactions with police over the past decade.

Josh Boden. July 2007

Just last month, he pleaded guilty in a Vancouver courtroom to providing a false or misleading statement to police in May 2017.

He appeared in New Westminster court on Oct. 22 and received a three-month conditional sentence for breaching a court order. He also served two months in pretrial custody. Another charge of attempting to obstruct justice was stayed.

In the year before Hallgarth’s death, Boden was acquitted of theft, mischief and assault charges stemming from an alleged domestic dispute with her after Hallgarth wavered at the last minute on the witness stand.

The domestic charges resulted in the B.C. Lions cutting the receiver from the team.

Boden was convicted in December 2011 of two counts of sexual assault, one of obstruction of justice, and one of assaulting a police officer. The following July, he was sentenced to a year in jail.

Police had been watching Boden as he groped a woman who was walking toward the Commercial-Broadway station in September 2011. Boden fought with police when he was arrested. It took three officers, a civilian and a police dog to subdue him.

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Former Canadian Football League wide receiver Josh Boden has been charged with second-degree murder.

Full family statement

First of all, we would like to thank all the members of IHIT’s Cold Case Team for all their hard work and relentless efforts on this investigation.

We have waited nearly 10 long years for this moment and are relieved that closure is in sight. Only we know the unimaginable grief that our family has been going through and the toll it has taken on every family member. What we have been going through is something that no family should ever have to experience.

Kim was a bubbly and caring person who deeply loved being the mother to Hailey and the void that her murder has left in our hearts can never be filled. She loved life and was always able to make everyone around her laugh. For those of you who knew Kim, you know that she had a heart of gold and genuinely cared about everybody she was close to. We will always remember her infectious laugh.

We recognize that nothing can bring Kim back. However, we need and deserve closure and are glad to see this next step today. We strongly urge the accused, his family, friends and acquaintances who were or are aware of any details related to this incident and withheld any information from the police to come forward now and do the right thing. We understand the accused and his family have also suffered from this senseless act of violence. We can only hope that the accused will cooperate and help everyone involved move forward.

We would also like to thank our extended family and friends for their endless love and support through this extremely difficult time.

At this time, we would like to ask the media to please respect the privacy of our family.

Full statement by IHIT Insp. Dave Chauhan

Good morning, I am Inspector Dave Chauhan, the Acting Officer-in-Charge of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

I am pleased to announce that after nine years since the tragic murder of 33-year-old Kimberly Hallgarth, IHIT has arrested an individual in connection with her death.

Today, I can announce that 32-year-old Joshua Boden has been arrested and charged with second degree murder.  He was arrested without incident on November 2, 2018 by IHIT and charged soon after by the B.C. Prosecution Service.

I realize the past nine years have been very difficult on Kim’s family and my deepest condolences go out to them.  I thank them for their patience and I hope the news of someone being held accountable for Kim’s death brings some semblance of peace.

For us to arrive at today’s outcome, it took a great deal of tenacity from all the investigators involved, both past and present.  Excellent foundational work was laid by investigators nine years ago, which continued into the present day by detectives of our specialized IHIT Cold Case Team.  IHIT’s Cold Case Team continually reviews and prioritizes IHIT’s unsolved cases for investigation that meet a number of key factors, including physical evidence obtained and new leads or information received.

The homicide investigation of Kim Hallgarth met many of these factors and the Cold Case Team has successfully met the high threshold to bring this file to a conclusion resulting in charges now being laid against Mr. Boden.  We never wavered in our investigative efforts.  I would like to thank all of our partners for their tremendous support and I am so proud of our team for never giving up on Kim’s case.

The trial for former Abbotsford resident Jamie Bacon has been delayed again.

A spokesperson for the B.C. Prosecution Service confirmed this week that the case has now been adjourned until Jan. 19, 2019.

“The trial was adjourned to allow counsel the opportunity to review further materials,” Alisia Adams, of the B.C. Prosecution Service, confirmed this week.

Asked if there could now be a stay application due to the length of time the case has taken to get to trial, Adams said:

“The B.C. Prosecution Service cannot comment further on this matter as it remains before the court.”

Jury selection for Bacon’s trial had been set to begin Nov. 5. But on Friday, issues arose that led to the two-month delay.

Some details of Bacon’s background are covered by a publication ban.

Bacon is charged with counselling to commit murder related to an attempt on the life of a former associate on Dec. 31, 2008.

His trial was originally set for April 2018, but was then adjourned to September 2018, then to Nov. 5 and now to early 2019 by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Wedge.

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Three young men who police allege are linked to the ongoing Lower Mainland gang conflict have been arrested and charged.

Surrey RCMP said its investigation started last week after the agency’s gang enforcement team got a report related to threats and possession of a firearm.

“Investigators believe the alleged threats were related to the ongoing drug trade and gang conflict amongst parties known to one another,” Cpl. Elenore Sturko said in a news release Tuesday.

“The investigation included the execution of a search warrant on Nov. 2, 2018, at a residence in the Newton area of Surrey, where officers seized two starter pistols, a BB gun and an air-soft replica pistol.”

Officers also seized suspected cocaine, fentanyl and crack cocaine, as well as other items consistent with drug trafficking, she said.

Approximately $4,200 in cash believed to be proceeds of street-level drug sales was also located and seized.

Surrey resident Sagar Virk, 18, has been charged with two counts of uttering threats and three of breaching court-ordered conditions. Sandeep Mathroo, 21, is facing charges of uttering threats, assault with a weapon, using an imitation firearm, mischief and resisting or obstructing an officer. And Manjit Bahia, 22, has been charged with assault with a weapon, using an imitation firearm, uttering threats and mischief.

“Our top priority remains public safety,” Sturko said. “Our Surrey gang enforcement team and other specialized units continue to investigate individuals whose criminal activity puts public safety at risk, put pressure on gang members, and ensure they know they are not welcome in our city.”

The news release was issued the day after Surrey city council, under new Mayor Doug McCallum, voted to create a municipal police force to replace the RCMP.

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Related

• Abbotsford murder victim was brother of gang boss slain last December
• 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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Family and friends of Kimberly Hallgarth were relieved Monday to learn that her former boyfriend had finally been charged in her 2009 murder.

Here’s my story:

The brother of slain Burnaby mother Kimberly Hallgarth said Monday that he hoped charges laid against her former boyfriend in the 2009 cold case might finally bring the family closure.

“We recognize that nothing can bring Kim back. However, we need and deserve closure and are glad to see this next step today,” ‎Jamie Errand said in a statement released by police at a Surrey news conference Monday.

At the same time, her accused killer, Joshua Joseph Boden, 32, appeared briefly in Vancouver provincial court and was remanded in custody until Dec. 10.

His lawyer Kevin Westell said outside the courthouse that Boden maintains his innocence in the murder, as he has done over the past nine years.

“These allegations have been out in the local media for the entirety of that time. Mr. Boden has been unwavering in his denial of his guilt in this matter,” Westell said.

Westell said he and fellow defence lawyer David Ferguson are still waiting for disclosure in the case.

“We will have a chance to review the disclosure and we will take it from there,” Westell said.

He wouldn’t say if Boden, a former professional football player, would make a bail application in B.C. Supreme Court.

Two friends of Hallgarth’s had been in courtroom 101 for the proceedings earlier in the morning, but left before Boden finally arrived close to 11 a.m. Both declined to comment.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said at the news conference the “new evidence … significantly advanced the investigation.”

Insp. Dave Chauhan, the acting head of IHIT, thanked Hallgarth’s family for its patience over the years.

“I realize the past nine years have been very difficult on Kim’s family and my deepest condolences go out to them,” he said. “I hope the news of someone being held accountable for Kim’s death brings some semblance of peace.”

He said the charge stemmed from “excellent foundational work as laid by investigators nine years ago, which continued into the present day by detectives of our specialized IHIT cold case team.”

Hallgarth, 33, was found dead inside her home on Colborne Ave. about 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 15, 2009. She had dated Boden for about eight months.

Errand, who asked for privacy for his family, thanked investigators for their “hard work”.

“We have waited nearly 10 long years for this moment and are relieved that closure is in sight. Only we know the unimaginable grief that our family has been going through and the toll it has taken on every family member,” he said. “What we have been going through is something that no family should ever have to experience.”

Boden, who briefly played in the CFL for the B.C. Lions and the Hamilton Tiger-cats, has had repeated interactions with police over the past decade.

Just last month, he pleaded guilty in a Vancouver courtroom to providing a false or misleading statement to police in May 2017.

He appeared in New Westminster court on Oct. 22 and received a three-month conditional sentence for breaching a court order. He also served two months in pretrial custody. Another charge of attempting to obstruct justice was stayed.

In the year before Hallgarth’s death, Boden was acquitted of theft, mischief and assault charges stemming from an alleged domestic dispute with her after Hallgarth wavered at the last minute on the witness stand.

The domestic charges resulted in the B.C. Lions cutting the receiver from the team.

Boden was convicted in December 2011 of two counts of sexual assault, one of obstruction of justice, and one of assaulting a police officer. The following July, he was sentenced to a year in jail.

Police had been watching Boden as he groped a woman who was walking toward the Commercial-Broadway station in September 2011. Boden fought with police when he was arrested. It took three officers, a civilian and a police dog to subdue him.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

---

Full family statement

First of all, we would like to thank all the members of IHIT’s Cold Case Team for all their hard work and relentless efforts on this investigation.

We have waited nearly 10 long years for this moment and are relieved that closure is in sight. Only we know the unimaginable grief that our family has been going through and the toll it has taken on every family member. What we have been going through is something that no family should ever have to experience.

Kim was a bubbly and caring person who deeply loved being the mother to Hailey and the void that her murder has left in our hearts can never be filled. She loved life and was always able to make everyone around her laugh. For those of you who knew Kim, you know that she had a heart of gold and genuinely cared about everybody she was close to. We will always remember her infectious laugh.

We recognize that nothing can bring Kim back. However, we need and deserve closure and are glad to see this next step today. We strongly urge the accused, his family, friends and acquaintances who were or are aware of any details related to this incident and withheld any information from the police to come forward now and do the right thing. We understand the accused and his family have also suffered from this senseless act of violence. We can only hope that the accused will cooperate and help everyone involved move forward.

We would also like to thank our extended family and friends for their endless love and support through this extremely difficult time.

At this time, we would like to ask the media to please respect the privacy of our family.

---

Full statement by IHIT Insp. Dave Chauhan

Good morning, I am Inspector Dave Chauhan, the Acting Officer-in-Charge of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

I am pleased to announce that after nine years since the tragic murder of 33-year-old Kimberly Hallgarth, IHIT has arrested an individual in connection with her death.

Today, I can announce that 32-year-old Joshua Boden has been arrested and charged with second degree murder.  He was arrested without incident on November 2, 2018 by IHIT and charged soon after by the B.C. Prosecution Service.

I realize the past nine years have been very difficult on Kim’s family and my deepest condolences go out to them.  I thank them for their patience and I hope the news of someone being held accountable for Kim’s death brings some semblance of peace.

For us to arrive at today’s outcome, it took a great deal of tenacity from all the investigators involved, both past and present.  Excellent foundational work was laid by investigators nine years ago, which continued into the present day by detectives of our specialized IHIT Cold Case Team.  IHIT’s Cold Case Team continually reviews and prioritizes IHIT’s unsolved cases for investigation that meet a number of key factors, including physical evidence obtained and new leads or information received.

Here’s my update and please take note that information about his background is banned until his jury trial:

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth called the death of inmate Alex Joseph in the back of a B.C. Corrections van last month “very disturbing” and said he hopes three separate investigations now underway will get to the bottom of what happened.

“Of course, it is very disturbing when a situation like this happens, because it shouldn’t happen,” Farnworth said of the death, detailed in a Postmedia report Saturday.

“That’s why these investigations are currently underway and we are going to find out what happened. People deserve answers and the family members deserve answers.”

Farnworth said B.C. Corrections is investigating Joseph’s death, which happened Oct. 4 on the side of the road north of 100 Mile House after his fellow inmates tried for more than an hour to get the guards’ attention.

The RCMP is also investigating the death, Farnworth said, as is the B.C. Coroners Service.

Three of the other inmates in the back of the van told Postmedia that they were shouting and banging on the walls after Joseph, 36, passed out and slumped onto the floor. But the correctional officers driving the van didn’t check on Joseph until it was too late, they said.

The inmates also said they believed Joseph overdosed. He was snoring at first after falling to the ground, but then went silent and began to turn blue.

They all said they were involuntarily transferred to the Lower Mainland, far away from family members, because of a staff shortage at the Prince George facility.

Two of them told Postmedia that police wearing tactical gear forcibly hauled them from their Prince George cells after they indicated they didn’t want to be transferred.

B.C. Corrections would not say why the inmates were transferred, but only that such moves happen “on an as-needed basis.”

Shelly Bazuik, a legal advocate with Prisoners’ Legal Services, said the involuntary transfers can take inmates away from support networks.

“These involuntary transfers have had all kinds of heart-wrenching and negative impacts on a prison population that is predominantly Indigenous,” Bazuik said, speaking generally.

Joseph was a member of the Beaver clan in the Nak’azdli Nation, near Fort St. James.

He had battled addiction for years and been in and out of jail. At the time of his death, he was in pretrial custody on a number of charges, including assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats.

The inmates interviewed said they travelled in tiny compartments within the B.C. Corrections van, wearing shackles and handcuffs and sitting on metal benches without seat belts.

The provincial department said in a statement that its “vehicles are not equipped with seat belts, as they can be used as a weapon against staff, other inmates or to harm themselves.”

Farnworth said what happened to Joseph “is a very tragic story.”

“I do know that the officers are all trained in naloxone,” he said.

Asked how they could use the life-saving kits if they didn’t stop to investigate why Joseph was in medical distress, Farnworth said: “That’s why I want to see those investigations and find out exactly what happened.”

He said the government will take necessary action once the results of the investigations are known.

“That’s what these investigations have to get to the bottom of. What happened and why did it happen? And from there, we can go, ‘OK, how can we make sure that this doesn’t happen again?'”

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Surrey RCMP announced some charged Tuesday in the Lower Mainland gang conflict. The accused are very young. Interesting that news of the charges come the day after Surrey’s new city council voted to replace the RCMP with a municipal force.

Here’s my story:

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Three young men who police allege are linked to the ongoing Lower Mainland gang conflict have been arrested and charged.

Surrey RCMP said its investigation started last week after the agency’s gang enforcement team got a report related to threats and possession of a firearm.

“Investigators believe the alleged threats were related to the ongoing drug trade and gang conflict amongst parties known to one another,” Cpl. Elenore Sturko said in a news release Tuesday.

“The investigation included the execution of a search warrant on Nov. 2, 2018, at a residence in the Newton area of Surrey, where officers seized two starter pistols, a BB gun and an air-soft replica pistol.”

Officers also seized suspected cocaine, fentanyl and crack cocaine, as well as other items consistent with drug trafficking, she said.

Approximately $4,200 in cash believed to be proceeds of street-level drug sales was also located and seized.

Surrey resident Sagar Virk, 18, has been charged with two counts of uttering threats and three of breaching court-ordered conditions. Sandeep Mathroo, 21, is facing charges of uttering threats, assault with a weapon, using an imitation firearm, mischief and resisting or obstructing an officer. And Manjit Bahia, 22, has been charged with assault with a weapon, using an imitation firearm, uttering threats and mischief.

“Our top priority remains public safety,” Sturko said. “Our Surrey gang enforcement team and other specialized units continue to investigate individuals whose criminal activity puts public safety at risk, put pressure on gang members, and ensure they know they are not welcome in our city.”

The news release was issued the day after Surrey city council, under new Mayor Doug McCallum, voted to create a municipal police force to replace the RCMP.

kbolan@postmedia.com

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twitter.com/kbolan

The minister of public safety says he hopes three investigations into the death of Alex Joseph will get to the bottom of what happened.

Here’s my update:

As homicide investigators are trying to find yet another killer in Surrey, newly elected Mayor Doug McCallum took the opportunity to blame the RCMP for the violence.

McCallum said in a news release that the Newton shooting “is yet another example of the ongoing trauma and fear that are being inflicted on the communities, residents and families of Surrey.”

“This latest incident of deadly gun violence further emphasizes the need for the City of Surrey to have its own city police force,” he said. “The people of Surrey have been abundantly clear that such a move is a top priority, which is why council and I have moved immediately to establish a Surrey Police Department and terminate the city’s contract with the RCMP.”

McCallum said the provincial government is resisting the move he wants to make.

“I want to urge the premier to remove any road blocks at the provincial level and help us make this critical transition proceed in the most timely and smooth manner possible for the people of Surrey.”

The 22-year old victim, who was not known to police, was shot to death in the 14200-block of 70A Avenue at 1:30 a.m. Friday.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is in charge of the case. The victim’s name has not yet been released.

The top cop in B.C. responded to McCallum’s news release.

Deputy Commissioner Brenda Butterworth-Carr said she lives in the region and is as alarmed about gang violence as other citizens are.

NOTE TO REAL SCOOP READERS: The comments are not working right now and have not been functional since 4 a.m. Thursday. I have reported this to Postmedia’s IT department. I am told they are working on a solution but I have not been given any estimate so to when it will be fixed. Sorry about that. In the meantime, anyone who wants to pass something along, can email me at: kbolan@postmedia.com or call me at: 604-219-5740

Two B.C. man — one convicted in a high-profile 1982 slaying and the other as Independent Soldier gangster — have been charged in a major Winnipeg police investigation into a drug trafficking organization.

Allan Ronald Rodney, 70, was convicted of manslaughter in the 1982 death of Sharon Bollivar, the wife of a supermarket manager kidnapped for ransom in Kitsilano and later shot to death. Mohammad Shakil Khan, 39, is an IS member who joined the Wolfpack gang alliance after it formed in 2010.

Both are behind bars in Manitoba after getting arrested there last month, along with Rodney’s Surrey housemate, Shontal Vaupotic, and several people from Alberta and Manitoba.

Winnipeg Police allege that Khan, a Vancouver resident, headed a criminal organization that was moving millions of dollars of drugs from B.C. to Manitoba and that Rodney was one of the gang’s drivers.

The B.C. government now wants to seize some of Khan’s and Rodney’s assets as proceeds of their criminal activities.

The director of civil forfeiture filed a suit in B.C. Supreme Court last week, seeking Rodney’s interest in his Surrey house, as well a semi trailer and several other high-end vehicles. The director also wants Khan’s 2007 Mercedes forfeited.

The suit alleges that neither man had “sufficient legitimate income to have acquired or maintained” the house or vehicles subject of the seizure application.

Insp. Max Waddell of the Winnipeg Police Service’s organized crime unit moves two large bags of methamphetamine, as drugs are laid out in front of the semi that was allegedly used to transport them from B.C.

The director lays out some details of the Winnipeg case.

“The investigation revealed that Mr. Khan was shipping kilograms of cocaine and ketamine from British Columbia for distribution in the Winnipeg area and Mr. Rodney and Ms. Vaupotic were transporting the shipments in a semi-truck,” the director’s statement of claim said.

Rodney and Vaupotic met with others now charged at least 18 times between February and October 2018 to exchange drugs for cash, according to the suit. The drugs were then transported to stash houses to be repackaged and distributed.

“During the investigation, members of the (Winnipeg Police Service) covertly entered the stash locations on various dates and located large quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA, marijuana, oxycodone, ketamine, heroin, cutting agents and cash,” the court documents said.

On Oct. 18, police watched as Khan, Rodney, Vaupotic and a Winnipeg man “conducted an exchange of money and controlled substances.”

“Shortly thereafter, Mr. Rodney was arrested at the Flying J truck stop in Headingly, Man. At the time of Mr. Rodney’s arrest, he was in possession of approximately $100,000 in Canadian currency and one kilogram of cocaine.” Khan was arrested at a Winnipeg A&W with about $1,000 cash.

Police conducted searches with warrants in B.C., Alberta and Manitoba. At a Winnipeg house owned by Khan, they found 6.5 kilos of cocaine, about $100,000 and a semi-automatic handgun and ammunition.

At Khan’s east Vancouver house, police found another $100,000, a money counter and score sheets, as well as “Independent Soldiers paraphernalia including patches, sweaters, jackets and a painting.”

At Rodney’s Surrey home in the 19300-block of 73A Avenue, police also found $100,000 cash, the director said.

Khan’s east Vancouver home.

Sgt. Brenda Winpenny, of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said “Khan is well known to police for having a long standing affiliation and ties to the B.C. gang landscape.”

The Winnipeg arrests are “a testament to the commitment of our policing partners at a national level to hold individuals accountable for their role in gangs and gang violence and the fear they illicit on our communities,” she said.

The civil forfeiture suit notes the criminal history of both Rodney and Khan.

“Mr. Rodney has a criminal record dating back to 1964 that includes convictions for fraud, break and enter and theft, possession of stolen property, manslaughter and Excise Tax Act offences,” the director of civil forfeiture said.

“Mr. Khan has a criminal record that includes convictions for assault, firearms offences, possession of a controlled substance for the purposes of trafficking and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm. Mr. Khan has a lifetime ban to possess firearms.”

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