Vancouver in a middle of another gang war

[Haz]

This year has been pretty brutal around the GVR and likely gonna be an all out gang war (http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article.jsp?content=20071106_084916_5164).

There was that huge shooting (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070809.wvanshooting0809/BNStory/National/) at a Broadway Street Chinese restaurant earlier this year, the targeted hit (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/09/24/bc-body.html) on a club promoter and the assassinations (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071019.wbcgas1019/BNStory/National/home) in a Surrey condo just last month.

Now, three shootings in the past week. The Halloween shooting (http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=3d25c774-34ca-4e23-a7f5-b79c2b4a70c4) at a Victoria Drive Chinese restaurant, the crime boss killing (http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=2fac6006-d27f-45c5-9fa2-4366eaed69b1&k=97884) in an upscale neighbourhood just this past Saturday and now a shooting of 2 guys (http://www.news1130.com/news/topstory/article.jsp?content=20071106_080311_1680) on Granville and 70th.

Not to mention, there was a couple of SUVs shooting at each other (http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article.jsp?content=20071106_023102_4652) yesterday afternoon during rush hour.

It's getting crazy around here.

[kuqdew]

Vancouver?

pshhhh

[aimfox]

Yes, I have a feeling it must be some chinese gang related... YAY! GO CHINESE!

[kuqdew]

Yes, I have a feeling it must be some chinese gang related... YAY! GO CHINESE!

triads make you feel patriotic?

[CSAgent]

omfg wtf bqqsauce lazers! Pew pew!

[kuqdew]

omfg wtf bqqsauce lazers! Pew pew!

bam bam

[hyperion]

When caught, instead of jail they should be sent to a war-zone like Iraq, we'll see how tough they are then.

[kuqdew]

When caught, instead of jail they should be sent to a war-zone like Iraq, we'll see how tough they are then.

No, thats stupid. They will just become hostages for the Canadian government to rescue.

[Atheral]

Yes, I have a feeling it must be some chinese gang related... YAY! GO CHINESE!

This is not something to be proud of.

[Haz]

No, thats stupid. They will just become hostages for the Canadian government to rescue.Do they deserve to be rescued?

[aznretep]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298434,00.html

[hyperion]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298434,00.html


From that article:
A study in 2004 estimated the street value of British Columbia's annual marijuana crop at more than C$7 billion, which would make it one of the western Canadian province's largest industries.

I find that pretty funny.

[Haz]

From that article:
A study in 2004 estimated the street value of British Columbia's annual marijuana crop at more than C$7 billion, which would make it one of the western Canadian province's largest industries.

I find that pretty funny.
Why not? BC bud is the best! :lol:

That's why all the gangs want the biggest piece of the pie.

I remember a few years ago, a co-worker of mine had family in one of these gangs during the struggle between the East Indian gang and a Vietnamese gang. Pretty brutal stuff happened.

[ab20]

Why not? BC bud is the best! :lol:

That's why all the gangs want the biggest piece of the pie.

I remember a few years ago, a co-worker of mine had family in one of these gangs during the struggle between the East Indian gang and a Vietnamese gang. Pretty brutal stuff happened.

so who won in the struggle?

[Haz]

so who won in the struggle?Not sure. It kinda died down and the news didn't cover it anymore. By then, I had quit that job and lost contact with my former co-worker.

[Impossibles]

I blame the poor play by the Canucks.

[AirBosh]

Yes, I have a feeling it must be some chinese gang related... YAY! GO CHINESE!


geez that is something to be proud of

[loho33]

Yes, I have a feeling it must be some chinese gang related... YAY! GO CHINESE!


Triads/Chinese gangs dont have enough members to compete against the viets, east indians and HA...but they do specialize in big drug trafficking, credit card fraud, loan sharking etc...



so who won in the struggle?

No one won the battle, the drug PIE is so big that there's no need to fight over it.

What your seeing in Vancouver is tit-for-tat killings...street level drug dealers with money and big ego's shooting each other. Even the big players have no control over it because everyone and their sister is a drug dealer...

Vancouver is a fairly new and booming city..there's no mafia or structured organize crime. You have 100's of 'crews' (not gangs because gang names attract attention) running around buying from the same source and making a lot of dough.

This might not be a surprise to everyone but these killings are usually because of GIRLS :twisted:. Drugs, money, power = girls...who ever flexes their muscle...gets the most girls...sad but true.

[vrus]

Vancouver is a fairly new and booming city..there's no mafia or structured organize crime. You have 100's of 'crews' (not gangs because gang names attract attention) running around buying from the same source and making a lot of dough.


wouldn't this 'source' be the structured 'mafia'?

[loho33]

wouldn't this 'source' be the structured 'mafia'?

Yes the source is structured but they got no control what's happening on the streets...unlike the mafia you have in other city's...they control the streets and try to keep everything peaceful.

[Peckerwood]

Good for them...I hope they do what they do best except only to each other...that is kill each other off one by one.

Also makes me wonder why the Yonkusan aren't getting involved, considering how they like to get their noses into everything.

[GoiNGPoSTaL]

Maybe they are trying to make this a new Olympic sport?

And I thought you BC'ers said this stuff only happens in Toronto?

[Lone_Prodigy]

Good for them...I hope they do what they do best except only to each other...that is kill each other off one by one.

+1

Sadly when one dies another will probably rise to take their place. Then you have a power struggle and the cycle repeats itself.

[Peckerwood]

+1

Sadly when one dies another will probably rise to take their place. Then you have a power struggle and the cycle repeats itself.
Natural Selection in action...Darwin would be proud

:lol:

[UrbanPoet]

wouldn't this 'source' be the structured 'mafia'?

Asian organized crime isnt as sstructured as the stereotypical Italian mob.

They'll have a bunch of business partners and do business with whoever. Of course there is some heiarchy, but it isnt set in stone like the other mobs.

I wouldnt go as far to say that these are only "small time street gangs". It seems like violence stemming from some pretty organized crime groups...

[Peckerwood]

Asian organized crime isnt as sstructured as the stereotypical Italian mob.
You discount the Yonkusan...they are quite fairly structured with a very rigid system of internal governance.

You are quite right about these street gangs though...totally uncollected and haphazard

[KorruptioN]

Yes, I have a feeling it must be some chinese gang related... YAY! GO CHINESE!

All the posts you've made in Off Topic suggest you're a very well-informed individual...

[manixc]

You discount the Yonkusan...they are quite fairly structured with a very rigid system of internal governance.

You are quite right about these street gangs though...totally uncollected and haphazard

Who's the Yonkusan? Google failed me :(

[loho33]

Good for them...I hope they do what they do best except only to each other...that is kill each other off one by one.

Also makes me wonder why the Yonkusan aren't getting involved, considering how they like to get their noses into everything.

Do you mean Yakuza? There's not many japanese people living in Canada for Yakuza to flourish...

[Peckerwood]

Who's the Yonkusan? Google failed me :(
Yonkusan is the actual name...Yakuza is the abbreviation

And yes they have holdings in Canada. Much of it is legitimate so the Canadian Government can't touch it...but they know who they are.

[15-20_God]

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/n...dae6fcc5c8&p=1

Vancouver police say they are working hard to find out who's responsible for the killing of two young men at Granville and 70th Avenue early Tuesday morning in what appears to be the latest in a series of gang-related hits.

But if history is any guide, those responsible for the crime -- like most gangland killers -- will never be caught.

According to figures released last month by Statistics Canada, only 45 per cent of gang-related killings in Canada in 2006 were solved by police, compared to 80 per cent of non-gang homicides.

The figures are even worse in B.C., with just 39 per cent of gang-related killings cleared by police (compared to 68 per cent of non-gang homicides).

And this year is unlikely to be any better.

Police have so far made arrests in virtually none of the high-profile gang murders this year -- including the August shooting death of two people at the Fortune Happiness restaurant in Vancouver and the slaying last month of six people, including two innocent bystanders, at an apartment in Whalley.

Police and prosecutors say gang-related homicides are particularly tough to investigate and bring to trial.

At a news conference Tuesday, Vancouver police department spokesman Const. Tim Fanning said investigating such cases is "very difficult [because] the people that are involved in gang activity aren't ones to come forward to the police."

And witnesses who aren't gang members are often too afraid to come forward.

"For any organized crime case, whether it's homicide or otherwise, the difficulty in the prosecution is getting witnesses to cooperate," said Mark Levitz, a provincial Crown counsel who works on organized-crime cases. "They're afraid of retribution."

In some cases, said Levitz, witnesses are directly threatened by a gang member to keep quiet.

But often that's not necessary, he said, because people simply assume that testifying against a gang is dangerous.

"Many gangs have reputations for fear and intimidation, so because of that reputation people are afraid to testify," said Levitz.

Even when witnesses do come forward, he said, they often have criminal pasts themselves, which can make it difficult to get a judge or jury to believe them.

"Their credibility will be attacked by the defence and that poses a challenge for the prosecution, because without a credible witness, it's difficult to prove the Crown's case," he said.

That means police often have to work harder to dig up corroborating evidence that will back up what the witness is saying, said Levitz.

Yvon Dandurand, a criminologist at the University College of the Fraser Valley, said witness cooperation can be a particular problem among immigrant groups who have come from countries where police are corrupt or incompetent.

"In the minds of some people, in particular ethnic groups, the thing they think of is: 'If I go to the police ... can they actually protect me?'" he said.

Dandurand said that reluctance is a problem because police need such people to come forward if they want to crack cases involving ethnic gangs.

"The people who are most likely to help you solve crime and maintain law and order are the people who are in contact with these organized [crime] groups and are not sympathetic," he said.

Dandurand said the best way for police to improve their credibility among ethnic groups is by doing more policing in their communities and paying more attention to their everyday concerns, such as noise complaints.

In spite of the number of recent shootings, it's not clear that gang-related violence in B.C. is getting significantly worse.


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Font:****For example, an internal RCMP report on organized crime produced earlier this year noted that the number of gang- and drug-related homicides in B.C. has remained relatively stable over the past four years, at about 30 per year.

"These data suggest that if violent dispute-resolution is a common feature of organized crime, the landscape for this criminal activity has remained relatively constant," the report stated.

And figures collected by Statistics Canada suggest that gang-related killings make up a smaller share of murders in B.C. than in other parts of the country.

In 2006, just 12 per cent of B.C. murders were gang-related, compared to a national average of 17 per cent and a high of 27 per cent in Quebec.

Dandurand said gang killings can often appear to be on the increase because they typically come in spurts, a cycle of payback and retribution that can take awhile to calm down.

"If you're in a criminal organization and someone shoots one of your guys, there's no way you can leave that unpunished," he said. "If there's one gang assassination, [police] start preparing for the next one."

cskelton@png.canwest.com

PERCENTAGE OF HOMICIDES THAT WERE GANG-RELATED,* 2006

Que. 26.9%

Sask. 22.5%

Ab. 21.9%

Man. 17.9%

Ont. 14.3%

B.C. 12.0%

Atlantic 3.2%

CANADA 17.2%

* Includes cases both where police have "confirmed" that a homicide is gang-related and those in which the incident is "suspected" of being gang-related.

Source: Statistics Canada

[whampoa]

Yonkusan is the actual name...Yakuza is the abbreviation

And yes they have holdings in Canada. Much of it is legitimate so the Canadian Government can't touch it...but they know who they are.

After WWII and the subsequent Allied occupation of Japan, Yonkusan came into prominence as a way of putting Korean, and to a lesser extend other Asian gangs around Japan, in their place.

Otherwise, Japan will be rampant with Korean gangs after the war. That's why the Yakuza is so heavily involved in both legitimate and questionable business around the world.

[UrbanPoet]

All the posts you've made in Off Topic suggest you're a very well-informed individual...

most chinese/viet know a thing or two. Just because people like to talk and gossip within the community.

Unless you stay @ home with no friends or family.

[Lone_Prodigy]

Did 15-20_God turn into st7860?

[15-20_God]

Authorities can't get rid of poster boy for gangsters

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/n...8-ff1912c4f8ff
Nok Souvannarath, a Laotian immigrant ordered deported a dozen years ago, is a poster boy for gangsters in the Lower Mainland.

This 46-year-old has been convicted, imprisoned, ordered deported, denied his appeal and been charged again and again with drug and weapons offences.

But he remains in Canada.

NDP public safety critic Mike Farnworth is demanding Attorney-General Wally Oppal and federal Immigration Minister Diane Finley throw this guy out of the country.

But Oppal says we have to change our current laws to do that and he told me Wednesday he's going to raise that issue at the federal-provincial ministers' meeting next week.

"[Souvannarath's] circumstances are typical in many ways," the attorney-general said. "Once they get into this immigration mess we cannot get them out of the country. It takes so long for these cases to be processed."

But that's only part of the problem -- we need to keep track of them, too.

Souvannarath is one of many criminal immigrants who have been thumbing their noses at us.

We've adopted laws that strip suspected terrorists of rights to allow us to lock them up and expeditiously deal with them because of the threat they supposedly pose.

But we have failed to pass similar legislation to get rid of convicted gangbangers who have exhausted their appeals, ignore deportation orders and are charged with other crimes. We have created a system that critics rightly complain seemingly protects thugs rather than citizens.

Oppal said perhaps taking the same approach as we have to terrorism would work with gangsters who are not citizens.

"We have to start doing something about this issue," he insisted. "We have people who get convicted and then they stay in the country forever because the process [to get rid of them] is so slow."

Here is a brief history of Souvannarath, who is linked to the United Nations street gang.

He was ordered deported in April 1995. He appealed and his plea was rejected in 1996. Sergio Marchi, then the federal Liberal minister of immigration, considered him a public menace.

No kidding.

Souvannarath was a problem in Alberta since his arrival in Canada. I'm told he was a gang enforcer initially and was charged with assault in 1984 and pointing a firearm in 1987, but those allegations were dismissed.

Authorities finally nailed him in March 1994 in what Alberta police billed as the most successful undercover operation in history up until that time.

Over the course of the five-month operation, five kilos of cocaine with a street value of $750,000 were seized, along with several thousand dollars in cash, a sawed-off shotgun, an Uzi sub-machine gun and an AK-47 assault rifle. Some 200 trafficking charges were laid.

One of the key players in this sophisticated dope-dealing network, Souvannarath was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison on two counts of drug trafficking. He served less than a year and was released in August 1995.

Although the parole board thought he was being released "for deportation," according to the federal file, no one kicked him out.

He moved out of Edmonton and authorities basically lost track as far as I can tell. As with so many people ordered deported, no one followed up to make sure Souvannarath was sent on his way.

As a result, he took up where he left off -- he moved to B.C. and set up operations here.

In November 2005, he was charged again after police busted three drug houses in Abbotsford.

The homes -- in the 3600-block of Mt. Lehman Road and 3600-block of Fieldgate Street -- were supply centres for numerous mobile drug operations, police say.

Instead of being kept in jail, however, Souvannarath was freed on $50,000 bail.

In April of this year, his home was targeted in a drive-by shooting.

Then he was arrested again in August.

Police raided the house and seized an automatic AR-15 gun equipped with a suppressor and large capacity magazine, a 9-mm handgun, a .22-calibre Ruger rifle equipped with a scope and large quantities of ammunition, body armour, more than $20,000 in cash and cocaine.

What's wrong with this picture?

There's a lot wrong -- especially when you consider that like so many gangsters, Souvannarath has apparently confounded Canadian justice by simply moving from province to province.

His Edmonton lawyer didn't return my calls.

The Canada Border Services Agency, which handles deportations, won't comment -- Souvannarath has privacy rights.

Regardless, criminal proceedings take precedence so he can't be deported until they end.

Still, why let this guy walk around on bail?

He should be in the clink and when he is eligible to get out, he should be escorted directly to an airplane and returned to Laos.

Oppal agreed.

In August, he directed prosecutors to seek a review of Souvannarath's bail. Before that could happen, Souvannarath pleaded guilty to one of the federal drug charges and was sentenced to three months in jail.

Since he was in prison already, when the Crown applied to revoke his bail on Oct. 3, Souvannarath did not oppose the application.

We'll see what happens when his sentence runs out. I'm betting he reapplies for bail since his trial on the weapons charges is set for June 2008. Until then, he'll be living off Canadian taxpayers.

And who knows how long it will take to get him out of the country.

imulgrew@png.canwest.com