Pubdate: Wed, 04 Mar 2009
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2009 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/feedback/?form=lettersToTheEditorForm
Website: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Authors: Wendy Stueck, and Josh Wingrove

RCMP LINK B.C. GANG VIOLENCE TO MEXICAN DRUG WARS

VANCOUVER and TORONTO -- It's a long way from the Mexican border town 
of Ciudad Juarez to a Delta, B.C., golf course where a 32-year-old 
man on Monday night was found dead near his grey Cadillac, shot 
multiple times and left to die.

But police say the two locations, roughly 3,000 kilometres apart, are 
linked by a drug war that has turned towns such as Ciudad Juarez into 
war zones, has sent the price of cocaine soaring and is reflected in 
a rash of deadly gang shootings that have rocked Metro Vancouver in 
recent weeks.

Violence between competing Mexican cartels is squeezing the flow of 
drugs from source countries such as Mexico and Colombia through 
cities such as Los Angeles, one of the major sources for 
Vancouver-based groups that buy and sell illegal drugs, says Pat 
Fogarty, RCMP superintendent with the combined forces special 
enforcement unit. Gangs in the Lower Mainland are now fighting over 
the dwindling supply.

"The distribution lines have been disrupted," Supt. Fogarty said 
yesterday in an interview. "It's like in any marketplace - the demand 
stays high, but there's not as many distributors out there because 
the little guys get knocked off.

"The bigger ones survive, the other ones don't. And these guys don't 
resolve things through a court process. It's 'I want my piece of the 
pie' - well, there's none left for you."

The Mexican gang violence is a major element of Lower Mainland gang 
shootings that have killed at least nine people since the beginning 
of the year, Supt. Fogarty said.

Yesterday, embattled B.C. police were able to trumpet a rare piece of 
good news when they announced five arrests, including that of a 
leader of the UN Gang, one of the major gangs operating in the 
province, and promising more to come.

Those arrested include Barzan Tilli-Choli, 26, of Vancouver, 
described by police as a UN Gang leader, who was charged with two 
counts of attempted murder in connection with a targeted hit outside 
a Surrey bar last month.

In that incident, shooters in an SUV pulled up beside a Range Rover 
stopped at an intersection, raking the vehicle with bullets as four 
people - two men and two women - sat inside.

One man was wounded in that shooting, which had targeted an associate 
of the three Bacon brothers, who have been linked to gang activity 
and who have been the subject of rare warnings to the public about 
the danger of associating or doing business with them.

Also arrested and charged with two counts of attempted murder were 
Aram Ali, 23, and Nicola Cottrell, 26, of New Westminster, B.C.

Sarah Trebble, 28, of West Vancouver, was charged with one count of 
occupying a vehicle knowing there was a firearm inside, and Karwan 
Saed, 32, of Burnaby, was charged with being an accessory after the fact.

The arrests followed an investigation that involved multiple agencies 
including the Vancouver Police Department and the RCMP. The recent 
rash of gang killings has resulted in calls by some for a unified 
police force for Metro Vancouver, which is served by a patchwork of 
different forces.

Last month, the federal government named a deputy solicitor-general 
to act as a gangs czar.

RCMP said yesterday that all Lower Mainland police agencies are 
working together to tackle gangs. Those efforts extend to 
neighbouring Alberta, where forces in Calgary and Edmonton pitched in 
on the investigation.

In Delta, a suburban community in the Metro Vancouver area, police 
are trying to piece together a homicide from Monday night in which a 
man was shot, possibly several times, and killed.

Police called about 6:40 p.m. on Monday to Ladner Trunk Road, a 
highway near the Delta Golf Course, found Abbotsford resident 
Sukhwinder Dhaliwal, 32, slumped over next to his grey Cadillac. He'd 
been shot, apparently several times, and left for dead.

Delta police described it as a targeted, gang-style shooting.

Delta Police Chief Constable Jim Cessford has been a vocal opponent 
of a metro force, saying community police services can better meet 
community needs.

But the Monday night murder shows that Delta is not immune to gang 
violence, which would be best tackled by a single regional police 
force, argues Robert Gordon, director of the school of criminology at 
Simon Fraser University.

"Even bucolic Delta is going to be visited by crime, serious crime, 
because the actions of organized crime groups have no respect for 
municipal boundaries, and they will roam anywhere in the area," he 
said. "They don't care whether it's Delta or where the hell else, 
they will do their business. And so you can expect more of that to happen."

On a visit last month to Vancouver, Prime Minister Stephen Harper met 
with regional police chiefs and families of victims of gang violence, 
including relatives of two innocent bystanders who were among six men 
killed in a gangland slaying at a Surrey high-rise in 2007 that 
remains unsolved.

Ottawa last month announced proposed legislation to toughen penalties 
for gang-related crime.
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