Pubdate: Fri, 04 Aug 2017
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Kim Bolan
Page: A1

POLICE ISSUE WARNING, FEARING PUBLIC WILL GET CAUGHT UP IN GANG WARFARE

The sun was setting on Coal Harbour last week when the Vancouver
police marine squad took special notice of a charter boat called the
Magic Charm.

Aboard the vessel were dozens of young men, some of whom were linked
to the Red Scorpion gang. Several had chest tattoos reading "My
brother's keeper."

The anti-gang Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit was called in
to check the party boat crowd when it docked beside the Westin
Bayshore around 9 p.m. on July 25. It was another tense interaction
between the police and some of those involved in the

drug gangs that are warring again on Lower Mainland
streets.

This week, Surrey RCMP issued a warning to the public to steer clear
of five young men who have been targeted by rival drug gangs. Despite
the threats on their lives, none of the five has co-operated with
police, who say relatives and friends of the men - as well as the
public - could get caught in a bloody crossfire.

Shootings are down overall in Surrey this year, RCMP assistant
commissioner Dwayne McDonald said recently. But McDonald added that
police are disturbed by the cavalier attitude displayed by the victims
of the latest violence.

McDonald also appealed to the public to provide tips to police about
those he named - Karman Grewal of Vancouver, Manbir Grewal and Ibrahim
Ibrahim of Coquitlam, and Indervir Johal and Harmeet Sanghera, both of
Surrey.

Surrey RCMP Cpl. Scotty Schumann said on Thursday that not a single
tip has been generated since McDonald's appeal.

Manbir Grewal, who has links to the Red Scorpion gang, was recently
shot in south Surrey. His older brother, Gavinder Grewal, was the
subject of a similar warning by the Abbotsford police two years ago
and has since been charged with manslaughter in the fatal 2010
shooting of a rival's girlfriend. The elder sibling is due to go to
trial next January.

Despite being on police radar, Manbir has no criminal record in B.C.,
according to the online court database.

Karman Grewal is known to police in both Alberta and B.C. He was
charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession
of the proceeds of crime in Grande Prairie last fall after the Alberta
Law Enforcement Response Team raided suspected drug houses and seized
$150,000 worth of cocaine, fentanyl, marijuana and GHB. In B.C.,
Grewal, 25, was fined $2,000 last year for failure to stop at the
scene of an accident in Surrey. He was also convicted in 2015 of
wilfully resisting a police officer in Surrey and sentenced to 12
months probation. And he was convicted in January of driving a vehicle
while disqualified and sentenced to a day in jail.

Another of the recent shooting victims, Indervir Johal, 23, is charged
with possession for the purpose of trafficking and scheduled to go to
trial next year in Surrey provincial court.

And 29-year-old Ibrahim Ibrahim, who police identified Monday as an
unco-operative target, was linked by Edmonton police to a 2007
shooting in Alberta.

McDonald said all five of the men whose names and photos were released
are linked to the Lower Mainland drug trade.

The fact some also have links to Alberta is not surprising, CFSEU
Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said in an interview.

"Generally speaking, we have seen, over the last five years
especially, a lot more movement back and forth," Houghton said.
"Alberta is next door, so they go there. Alberta police agencies have
seen the expansion of groups like the Red Scorpions and Independent
Soldiers."

He said police in B.C. have seen Alberta gangs like Fresh Off the Boat
and the Fresh Off the Boat Killers coming here.

Last month, former Fresh off the Boat Calgary member Yee Hung (Roland)
Chin, 33, was found dead in Chilliwack, where he had been trying to
turn his life around.

One of the messages police constantly stress, Houghton said, is how
gangster lifestyle choices can come back to haunt those involved, even
years later.

"It doesn't matter where you go, if you get involved in this activity,
even at what you think are some of the more minor levels - your past
will come back to get you eventually," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt