Slain UN Gang member was busy Abottsford Realtor

It's been a stellar week for Vancouver Crime News, with plenty of fresh information emerging on the U.N. Gang. These guys may just succeed in earning "modern legend" status, if only they continue to build profile and avoid wiping each other out.
In Ottawa much play was given to the release of crime figures by STATISTICS CANADA. "Less crime could hurt 'law-and-order' Tories at the polls, experts say". Really? And the significance? Well according to the quoted "expert" one Bruce Anderson, president of the polling firm Harris-Decima , this is bad news for the alleged "Law and Order" Conservative Government. What a jerk. (I hear my stomach churning.) Since which decade, pray tell, have the sissy boy Tories been a threat to organized crime or to the legion of urban scofflaws?
Mr. Anderson is thinking of the now defunct REFORM PARTY OF CANADA which had as its stated policy, the building of new federal prisons and getting proactive with the Criminal Code. In the 1990s the Tories consistently described REFORM views on Criminal Justice as "extremist" or "mean spirited" and the current iteration of Tory-Thought is decidedly liberal in tone. It's already well established that B.C. gangs do not fear "the system" or the Federal Horsemen. What Mr. Anderson probably desires, in his heart of darkness, is that those former Reform MPs who manage to survive inside the Tory Regime be swarmed and eliminated by Liberal and NDP operatives. That, I concede, may happen.

BLOODLETTERS AND BADMEN
One thing you must admit about the "soldiers" of the U.N. Gang, they are attracting the affections of many of the best looking young women in the Greater Vancouver. As gang casualties pile up, the online tribute pages overflow with photos of stunning babes. It begs the question, "With so much to live for, why do these guys throw their lives away?"

Elliott Abben Castaneda, nicknamed "Taco", was slain in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico on July 12, 2008. Here he drinks with some pretty girls. Note the body language.

Elliott Abben Castaneda, age 29, of Abbotsford and Ahmet "Lou" Kaawach were murdered on Saturday, July 12 as they ate lunch in a restaurant in the upscale Colony Santa Teresita district of Gaudalajara. Both were members of the UN Gang which Vancouver police persistently claim is not active in Mexico. If that be the case, their murder was orchestrated from here. (Statistics Canada take note!) Mr. Castaneda, nicknamed “Taco”, was an immigrant to Canada from Guatemala. He grew up here and was educated in Abbotsford schools. Mr. Kaawach, nicknamed “Lou”, was an immigrant from the Lebanon and he was successfully deported back to country of origin after testing positive for crime.

For the past few years Elliott Castaneda (photo above) seemed to be pursuing a career in real estate sales. Until a few weeks ago he was working for HomeLife Glenayre Realty Co. Ltd. in Abottsford, and managing his clients from home. We now learn that it had become completely untenable for Castaneda to continue in the real estate business since his connection with the UN Gang was exposed. We know this because Kim Bolan of The Sun has secured copies of interesting court documents which expose a joint Law Enforcement – CRA operation designed to harass gang members and confiscate their illegal earnings.

NEWS MEDIA STARTING TO DRIVE EVENTS

A brief but crucial story was published in the Vancouver Sun on July 12, 2008. “Gangster changed jobs after story in Sun; Michael Newman had to 'retire,' he told Vancouver police” The Sun reporter quoted from an affidavit in which Newman insisted that he had changed criminal roles after the newspaper had identified him, in 2005, as a “hit man”. Quoting the affidavit, the story adds - "Newman claimed to have access to 64 information databases and could find anyone and learn about their lifestyle," and "Newman was referring to the UN Gang when he said 'group of friends.' "

We now know that on the day the SUN story appeared, July 12th, Elliott Castaneda was murdered in Mexico. With Castaneda dead, The SUN was free to quote heavily from other documents it had in its possession - documents filed in court by Castaneda’s lawyer, Kevin Drolet. That followup story, published July 18, is spectacular and indicates that the SUN is holding back. "Members battle Canada's Taxman New documents reveal police and gang members met in a theatre parking lot and outside gangsters' homes”

In his court filing Castaneda named fifteen fellow gang members who are being pressured by the super-charged task force. The incident that probably doomed Castaneda involved ten police officers who showed up at his primary residence at 35885 Marshall Road, Abottsford at 1 a.m. on March 4 to serve the tax papers. The female CRA officer attended for legal reasons, but the message to the realtor was clear. He and his associates were being shut down, and the night shift were going to ruin their sleep.
"I asked the police officer who spoke to me why there were so many officers there so late at night. The RCMP officer said that many people are not happy to see the CRA, and they have to go with them. He provided no explanation why they were serving documents at such an unreasonably late hour," Castaneda's wrote. He had no choice but to surrender his sales licence

The Vancouver Sun frequently consults B.C. Land Titles and the Personal Property Registry when they profile people, just as Elliott Castaneda might do in his profession before he was killed. Ms. Bolan established that Castaneda recently purchased three Abbotsford homes, with a combined value is in excess of $1.1 million and that he was leasing a BMW sedan.
Each of the fifteen UN Gang members and associates named by the SUN on Friday will react in their own manner. Some will stay cool and let their lawyer speak. Others may engage in violent recriminations. Lawyer Kevin Drolet, alleges in his filing that the Canada Revenue Agency "is illegally working with police in violation of the Charter and Income Tax Act by passing on the confidential information of citizens". It may well be, but Statistics Canada propaganda aside, desperate times do call for desperate measures. Local police are trying their best to crush this outbreak decisively, before it can escalate to the level it has reached in Mexico where government has been forced to deploy the military.

Elliott Abben Castaneda and pals outside a Las Vegas firing range in 2004. "Taco" proudly posed with the ever popular Osama Bin Laden paper target. He and one other UN Gang member was gunned down in Mexico on July 12, 2008.

The Gun Store in Las Vegas is a popular stop for Canadian tourists. You can take it slow with a pistol or, if you've got bucks to burn, let rip with a sub machine gun. The sign as it looked when the Abottsford boys were in town.