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Gangs |
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Nathanson Centre for the study of Organized Crime and Corruption |
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VANCOUVER - The RCMP have launched an investigation to determine what motivated teenagers in Langley, BC, to manufacture explosive devices that were found in park on Friday, prompting the evacuation of several blocks. (CBC) PREVIOUS: 2 teens arrested Teen leads cops to more explosives Teens injured in apartment explosion Teen injured by homemade explosives
EDMONTON - Civil court documents filed in Vancouver in support of a lawsuit by the Insurance Corp. of BC allege an organization that includes an admitted drug dealer obtained vehicle registration documents from an Alberta registry. One individual named in the civil suit is Raminder Singh (Mindy) Bhandher. (Edmonton Journal) MORE: Air India witness faces first-degree murder charge Bhandher charged for Surrey murder Thieves breach registry
VANCOUVER - Four gangsters who pleaded guilty to a violent kidnapping in which the victim's father was asked for $500,000 ransom were sentenced Wednesday to six years in jail. The sentencing of Bobby Harminder Singh Atwal, 27, Jasraj Singh Bains, 27, Harkamal Singh Cheema, 27, and Mandeap Singh Johal, 28, ends a series of related kidnapping prosecutions in which the Crown convicted 11 separate gangsters in three brutal 2005 abductions. The kingpin of the drug operation, Jethinder Singh (Roman) Narwal, was earlier convicted on 13 counts in all three cases and sentenced to 17 years with credit for time served. (Vancouver Sun)
Homework club or dealing drugs EDMONTON - Sudanese refugee Steve Koch was just finishing English classes when he had his first invitation into gang life. (Edmonton Journal)
Abduction linked to school shooting TORONTO - The abduction and assault of a 15-year-old girl may provide important clues leading to the second shooter who unloaded several rounds in broad daylight near a north-end high school last week, Toronto police say. (Toronto Star)PREVIOUS: Morning gun battle
BLAINE - A 28-year-old Canadian man was arrested near the U.S. border in Blaine after customs agents found 93,000 tablets of Ecstasy in his car, officials said on Friday. Tavinder Singh Randhawa, of Delta, BC, was taken into custody shortly after he entered the US through a designated NEXUS lane around 7 am on Thursday. (KOMO)
Gang shreds off member's tattoo KITCHENER - The world of Kitchener street gangs is rarely open to public view, but yesterday in court, a sickening picture of life on the streets was revealed. Prosecutor Andre Rajna described how several members of the Stick-Up Kids used a cheese grater to scrape off a gang tattoo from the hand of a member they thought had ratted on them. (Toronto Star)
HAMILTON - For more than a week, Hamilton's elite guns and gangs unit staked out what they describe as known members of the Oriental Blood Brothers, also known as the Original Blood Brothers, after getting a tip about an impending drug deal. (Hamilton Spectator) |
TORONTO - With the arrest of 96 people ranging in age from 17 to 63, Toronto police say a five-month undercover project has put a serious dent in drug dealing on west-end streets. The alleged drug dealers were "known to police," having accumulated 1,600 convictions prior to their recent arrests. (Toronto Star)
TORONTO - Four teenagers believed to be gang members have been arrested following a series of violent rush-hour subway muggings. As many as five stations spanning three police divisions were hit. (Toronto Star) RELATED: Sick transit
Gas bar staff rushed to help victims CALGARY - Employees used paper towels and their bare hands to stop the bleeding after a gunman shot gang member Roger Chin and another man when the pair stopped for fuel at a northeast Calgary gas bar. (Calgary Herald) PREVIOUS: Gang unit probes double shooting Shooting bears hallmarks of gang retaliation
Public silent as gangs wage war EDMONTON - Police have not received a single tip after a spate of gang-related shootings in the past two weeks. "I don't expect gang members and gang associates to call us," Staff Sgt. Kevin Galvin of the gang unit said Friday afternoon, just hours after two north-end homes were peppered with bullets. "What I find really interesting here is that no one else from the community ever calls," he said. (Edmonton Journal) MORE: Multiple incidents keep police busy Young men most likely to kill or be killed Categorizing some of the files Guns & gangs grip mid-winter Edmonton
'Independent' crime groups moving drugs NANAIMO - RCMP say they are seeing a number of very active, independent crime groups moving large amounts of drugs between Nanaimo and the US. Cpl. Kirby Anderson, head of the Nanaimo RCMP's criminal-intelligence team, said this is in addition to known outlaw motorcycle gangs and Asian gang activity. (CanWest)
Police bust drug deal 'convenience store' EDMONTON - Two huge seizures of drugs and weapons suggest organized crime is increasingly offering one-stop convenience shopping and beefing up gang fences, police say. (Edmonton Journal)
LOS ANGELES - A south Los Angeles Latino street gang targeted African-American gang rivals and other blacks in a campaign of neighborhood "cleansing," federal prosecutors say. Alleged leaders and foot soldiers in the Hispanic gang Florencia 13, also called F13, are being arraigned this week on charges stemming from a pair of federal indictments that allege that the gang kept a tight grip on its turf by shooting members of a rival gang - and sometimes random black civilians. (Newsweek)
Crack addict and petty dealer Shawn Giesbrecht owed only $170 to his supplier in the Crew, a Prince George puppet club for the notorious Hells Angels. But he was warned by Crew enforcer Scott Payne that the unpaid debt would cost him dearly. Payne told Giesbrecht to place his hand on a table and hacked off a finger. (Vancouver Sun) MORE: Quick cash led to lengthy sentence Aging Angels and quitters create vacancies in the ranks Cops say organized crime 'rampant' |
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Raids target Latino Americanos TORONTO - Police say they have dealt a severe blow to a Toronto gang and prevented a large shipment of drugs and firearms from hitting the streets. Officers conducted sweeping raids throughout the city on Wednesday night, arresting nine alleged members and associates of the Latino Americanos (LA Boys) gang. (CTV) MORE: Alleged gang leader faces drug, gun charges |
40-shot fusillade hits club district TORONTO - A wounded man was the only victim of a running gun battle between two armed groups who fired at least 40 shots on a downtown Toronto street early yesterday, police said. The fusillade blew out car windows and left bullet holes in storefronts on Adelaide St. W. (Toronto Star) PREVIOUS: Gang fight behind downtown shootout Police gang unit targets gang members |
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EDMONTON - A bright young woman who found herself in the thrall of a street gang and pregnant with a gangster's baby was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison. (Edmonton Journal) |
Surrey women top men as car thieves VANCOUVER - A recent crackdown by IMPACT, the Lower Mainland's integrated police car-theft team, has caught more women than men stealing cars in Surrey. (CBC) MORE: Majority of Surrey car thieves are now female |
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Gang member acquitted of shooting MONTREAL - The judge believed the victim and didn't believe the man accused of shooting him, but let the defendant go anyway. Jean-Yves Brutus - who the federal government determined was a street gang member and ordered deported to Haiti in 2002 - smiled broadly, jumped from his seat and clapped his manacled hands together yesterday as Quebec Court Judge Claude Millette acquitted him of the attempted murder of a visitor last year. (Montreal Gazette) |
VANCOUVER - The ex-wife of a man accused of first-degree murder and kidnapping admitted yesterday that she had lied during earlier court appearances because she was afraid. The woman, who can't be named because of a court order, made the admission during her cross-examination by the accused, her ex-husband Rajinder Benji, who is acting as his own lawyer in the BC Supreme Court trial. (Vancouver Province) |
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TORONTO - Just five years ago, a Toronto gang calling itself the Asian Assassinz had four members and claimed as its turf two blocks in downtown Chinatown. Back then, they "tagged the living crap" out of the area, according to a police officer who has tracked them, but not any more because, now, "they have the Internet." (Toronto Star) |
Downtown arms dealer gets five years in jail VANCOUVER - An arms broker with gang associations who shocked Vancouver police with the size and variety of the cache of guns and ammunition found in his apartment has pleaded guilty to weapons and drug charges and been sentenced to five years in jail. Jong Ca John Lee, 26, showed no emotion during sentencing. (Vancouver Province) |
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Gang's loose ties make it a tough nut CALGARY - They share a name, do a bustling business in illegal drugs and have an affinity for using violence to protect it. But it's unclear whether a gang calling itself the Independent Soldiers, established in Calgary six months ago, is directly related to a group of gangsters with the same name in BC's Lower Mainland. (Calgary Herald) PREVIOUS: Gang culture hard call for judges Dealer claims bust ended his career |
TORONTO - Fed up with Ottawa's response to organized crime, five provinces are taking the law into their own hands. In an unprecedented move, justice ministers from Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta yesterday signed an inter-provincial accord to work together to combat bikers, mobsters and gangsters. (Toronto Star) PREVIOUS: Crime gangs getting more organized Cops shouldn't wait for the More Important Murder Effect |
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DENVER - The number of cases investigated by the Denver police gang unit has increased 83 percent since 2001. From silencing witnesses to wounding innocent bystanders in broad daylight, crimes committed by gangs have left an indelible mark on Denver and its residents. (Rock Mountain News) MORE: Denver police: "We have a gang problem" |
Canada's money-laundering king VANCOUVER - Tho Ahn Khuc -- a key figure in the largest money laundering case in Canadian history -- spent a lot of time on the phone talking about kids. talked about fat kids and white kids, blond kids and kids with white shirts. Khuc was a Vancouver drug dealer and "kids" was the code word for cocaine. (Vancouver Sun) |
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Man charged with attempted murder VANCOUVER - A 22-year-old Coquitlam man was charged yesterday with two counts of attempted murder and four counts of arms trafficking, stemming from a double shooting at a North Vancouver highrise apartment complex last October. Anton "Tony" Ivanic was in custody last night following his arrest last Friday in Burnaby. (Vancouver Province) |
DALLAS - Something called “cheese” is killing kids. In August of 2005, no one had even heard of it - so much so, that when a school district police officer first saw a bag of this drug, he thought it was fake. (AP) PREVIOUS: Stopping a kid killer Coming to a street corner near you: flavoured meth Feds bust pot-laced snack factory DEA: Looking for Mr. Greenbud |
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Gang members' silence not so golden WINNIPEG - Two Winnipeg gang members may yet pay a price for refusing to testify in a high-profile murder trial, effectively allowing the accused to walk free. (Sun Media) PREVIOUS: Firebombs, bricks, guns used in gang warfare, trial told Wrong place, the wrong time |
Gangs stalling Haiti's reconstruction TORONTO - Haiti remains a "volatile" nation plagued by gangs and drug trafficking more than three years after an uprising ousted former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, despite Canada's half-billion dollar pledge to help stabilize the troubled country, says a newly released document. (CP) |
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Gang activity growing in the North PRINCE GEORGE - Gang activity is growing in strength in the Northern B.C. region, according to Mounties, just as it is growing in Prince George and in the Lower Mainland. Violence is not expected to rise in an inordinate way, but rise it will, if it follows the trends. (Prince George Citizen) |
The life & death of a gangster Mourners bury another slain gang member Gang member was ordered deported 4 years ago |
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Drug chemicals found in slain man's unit VANCOUVER - More than 100 drums of precursor chemicals for making ecstasy and crystal meth were found this week at the Delta business of Gilles LePage, who was gunned down in Vancouver last Saturday with long-time gangster Ricardo Scarpino. (Vancouver Sun) Slain man described as 'loving person' Slain gangster lived the good life Cameras could help cops identify killers 4 city restaurants victims in 6 months Just wanted to turn his life around |
Underworld assassins 19, Law Enforcement 0 Metro cops join to fight gangs Flash map of gang shootings locations Bars, police team up on gang control Gang members keeping their heads down lately, say cops 'We have to stop the killings' Multiple murders raise ho-hums from ministers Turf wars leave cops struggling Latest gang shootings in Metro Vancouver Fashion labels blacklisted by clubs Rethink jail time for young criminals Canada behind in gang prevention: expert |
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VANCOUVER - A gangster who escaped from a maximum-security jail has been sentenced in absentia to more than six years behind bars. Omid Tahvili , 37, was handed a six-year and two-month term on charges of the kidnapping and sexual assault of a Surrey man. (Vancouver Province) |
Escaped gangster phones lawyer Escaped gangster makes phone calls |
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Abhari had huge rap sheet, no jail VANCOUVER - Ali Abhari, the 25-year-old man shot dead in a Mercedes, was a "treacherous guy" who was routinely found in the company of gang members from the UN Gang and Independent Soldiers, says a police source. Abhari was an "absolute maniac" and "total crook" with no ties to any one group, said the source. (Vancouver Province) |
Widow says Ronal Shakeel ‘Shak’ Raj wasn't involved in gangs |
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VANCOUVER - In her two-year battle to recover from a bullet to the head, Laurie Tinga has already shown the fighting spirit her friends and family admire. Now she has begun a different kind of battle with the filing of a civil suit against six gangsters who police believe were behind the shootout that left her an unintended victim. (Vancouver Sun) |
File on Bobby Tajinder Singh Gill Shooting survivor sues six men for damages |
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IHIT's methods passé, says LA cop VANCOUVER - The four men targeted in the gangland slaying in Surrey last week were members of a drug crew operating at the street level. And there are at least 30 such crews operating throughout the Lower Mainland, a police source told The Province. The source said the murder victims were big players in the Surrey drug trade and that the youngest, Ryan Bartolomeo, 19, was new to the crew. (Vancouver Province) |
Grieving mom vows to fight gangs Mourning a life 'snatched away' BC calls for stiffer penalties in wake of deaths |
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REGINA - The trial of six men charged after one of the biggest grow-op busts in Saskatchewan's history heard Tuesday that the thousands of marijuana plants seized were for medicinal purposes. Defendant Lawrence Agecoutay, 52, who calls himself a spiritual chief, testified he was directed by "the Creator" to grow the plants to provide the ingredients for a cure for diabetes." (CBC) |
Defendant testifies Creator directed grow-op Elaborate grow-op defence one to remember |
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PRINCE GEORGE - Bar operators in Prince George say they are concerned about a new gang that has moved into the city. The new gang is trying to carve out a piece of the local drug trade. The new gang is known as the Independent Soldiers. (Opinion 250) PREVIOUS: Prison gangs and youth gangs in Canada Police not to name gangs isn't having desired effect |
WINNIPEG - Manitoba justice officials plan to deport the alleged "godfather" of the Mad Cowz gang in the latest attack against ongoing street violence. Yassim Ibrahim, 24, has racked up a lengthy criminal record since coming to Canada from Somalia in 1999. . (Winnipeg Free Press) PREVIOUS: Police continue hunt for suspects Justice officials hail deportation Criminal refugee to get the boot |
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His friends dead, he wanted out - but it wasn't that easy VANCOUVER - After a year behind bars, Tri Troung returned to the streets of Vancouver a different person. In prison, he had decided to leave the violent Vietnamese street gang he was running with, realizing he was on the road to an early death. (Vancouver Province) |
'Stomp your head' was their theme song The gang that cut off a boy's hand For children, an urgent lesson in death Some kids just can't beat the rap |
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VANCOUVER - A small Aldergrove-based gang has become the talk of the town following a high-profile car chase and shooting in rural Langley Tuesday. But insiders warn that the 856 gang - believed to be behind the targetted shooting of Leonard Pelletier, an alleged Hells Angels associate, near D.W. Poppy secondary school - could be in over its heads. (Sun Media) |
Victim's wife insists they're farmers Target of shooting moves to 'safe' house |
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Victim has long criminal record Vancouver police said Monday that Gurmit Singh Dhak, a well-known figure in gang circles, was refusing to cooperate with investigators probing the weekend shooting at Quattro on Fourth in Kitsilano. Dhak, has been associated with a criminal organization dubbed "Billy's Crew." (Vancouver Sun) |
Shooting victim in line of fire before Gunmen fire shots into restaurant |
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Too many gangsters armed, ready to fire VANCOUVER - Metro Vancouver's spate of brazen shootings in public places stems from too many gang members packing guns and ready to use them to settle disputes, a Vancouver police gang specialist said Wednesday. Insp. Dean Robinson, who is in charge of the force's gang unit, said the disputes appear to be personal ones between gang members and do not reflect a large-scale gang war. (Vancouver Sun) Portrait of Street Level Social Problems Hard Times .pdf |
Why gangsters love their BlackBerrys |
