The U.N. Gang - news on its "armourer"

Enlarged detail of a photo we ran on June 26. Clayton Roueche is being held in a Seattle detention facility. Police have revealed that they believe JIN BON CHAN (see photo) is now defacto leader of the U.N. Gang.

My June 26th Blog on the UN Gang was well received and some of you have been checking back for updates.

In truth, local law enforcement is just holding its breath, waiting to swarm the location of any fresh incidents of gunplay. Cordon and search seems effective downtown amid the towers, but it has not been as effective enough in the Fraser Valley. What little action there is, plays out in the Vancouver courts. Yesterday for example, Kim Bolan reported on two bail initiatives, one successful. "Gun Dealer Supplied arms to U.N. Gang"

Last week in Surrey, B.C., notorious bad boys Jarrod and Jamie BACON managed to secure bail on 24 weapons charges. Meanwhile in a Vancouver court Jong Ca John LEE (see photo) had his bail blocked by the Crown. John Lee is currently serving five years for weapons offences and it is now widely accepted that he was "armourer" to the U.N. Gang. The irony of course is that weapons supplied by one bail applicant have been used to try to murder the other bail applicants.

To refresh memories on Jong Ca Lee, I quote Ms. Bolan in yesterday's edition of the Vancouver SUN: "Lee's armoury, on the 21st floor of an apartment building at 1128 Quebec St., was found incidentally by Vancouver police when they got a 911 call to the apartment on April 26, 2007 and stumbled on the cache. A Nazi flag was hanging on the wall. "

Now while I have the greatest admiration for Ms. Bolan's work, both on the organized crime file and on Sikh Terrorism, I still find I must quibble. Bolan, and her editor, understand that SUN readers are averse to legalize. They will not swallow lengthy extracts from court documents, but there is no call for boilerplate which only distracts concerned citizens from the real issue of a drug culture which has a taste for blood, and is capable of evading prosecution.

At no time have the police proved that John Lee was a "Gun Dealer" or that he was an "armourer" in the accepted definition of the word. What he was doing was simply fencing stolen firearms. The Vancouver Sun has the name and address of every licenced firearms dealer in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. Why? Because several years ago the SUN ran a major story on the lawful selling of firearms in the region. The underhand goal of their piece was to influence public policy. They were encouraging municipalities to ban lawful dealers in the region. And because local news media do not investigate each other, we will never know which, if any, of the lawful firearms dealers identified in the story were robbed as a result of the SUN's "outing" them. It is quite possible the paper contributed to the proliferation of guns on our streets.

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Further, reference to the U.N. Gang "armourer" having "mines" and "grenades" and a "Nazi flag" in his apartment are all typical examples of gun porn. DEWAT objects [Deactivated War Trophies] are the sort of dangerous looking clutter which accompany many seizures of stolen weapons collections. It is what criminals expect to encounter when they smash into the home of an American who combines an interest in guns and military history. DEWATS are popular eye candy when police assemble a display of seized weapons for the TV cameras, but they are of no particular use to the bad guys. Such objects have no use in staging a typical ambush killing.

The V.P.D. has long acknowledged that most local firepower has been looted from gun collections in the United States. Television news showed us that Mr. Lee had a German MG 42 in his downtown apartment, matched with a Nazi flag. The tripod mounted MG 42 is a highly effective weapon, but my suspicion is that his was a DEWAT. Just for show. The Nazi flag is of course always associated in Canada with White Supremacists, but the U.N. Gang is, by definition, multi-ethnic and colour blind. [B.C.'s school curriculum does work its magic sometimes!] Mentioning that Jong Ca John Lee had a Nazi flag on his apartment wall does not advance the story, and what is really needed is a full profile of his background and his training in firearms.

For example, I have seen no published evidence that Lee is a weapons tech, is capable of converting weapons to full auto without damaging them, or is competent to manufacture an effective gun silencer. If we continue to term him an "armourer" without proof, we risk enhancing the status of the gang as some sort of para-military organization, and that will certainly feed egos.

The UN Gang - Vancouver's graveyard dawgs

Is the UN Gang out of business? Unlikely, but at least its leader is buried in a holding cell down in Seattle. As widely reported by Vancouver media, Clayton "Clay" Roueche was scooped up in a slick three way operation mounted by U.S., Mexican and Canadian law enforcement. Roueche is fond of foreign travel and his ability to organize gang R&R activities offshore. He tripped up on a recent junket to Cancun Mexico, where he was to attend a wedding. The attendees included twenty UN Gang members, their wives and girlfriends. His mistake was in thinking there was safety in overflying the United States. Millions of dollars worth of close surveillance and wiretapping paid off, and he was coolly diverted into U.S. custody.

A bonanza of personal material including bank records and private photographs of gang activities were seized when police raided his house in Coquitlam, B.C. It's a tantalizing preview of what was in Clay Roueche's personal scrapbook. A copy set of the Intelligence booty was provided to the Americans and a small sample was offered by federal prosecutors in Seattle at Roueche's arraignment on June 9, 2008.

Several events led to police capture of Roueche. One key development was arrest of Jong Ca John Lee, who is believed to have been the armourer to the UN Gang. Lee's highrise Vancouver apartment was stormed by Vancouver police on June 9, 2007. (Local TV broadcast a police display of automatic weapons and drugs seized. It included a German MG42 belt-fed machine gun). Lee had no previous criminal record but pleaded guilty in September 2007 to 10 counts, including possession of 3.5 kilograms of ecstasy (estimated value $400,000) 900 grams of marijuana, an arsenal and three stolen Canadian passports. He is now in prison.

Criminal yearbook photo - seventy members of the UN Gang formed ranks for a recent photo. Note some wearing sweatshirts or T's with their "UN" logo. The boss, Clayton Roueche, is currently in U.S. custody.

Clayton Roueche, sporting a custom embroidered hoodie, makes his way to the graveside to burn joss for a fallen UN soldier.

Roueche, born and raised in Chilliwack and Abottsford, B.C., is a devotee of Asian martial arts and enjoys all the trappings, including gaudy insignia and Buddhist ceremonial.

This grave of a UN Gang member boldly proclaims him to be a "Warrior of the United Nations". The stone and burial were paid for by gang leader Clayton Roueche.

Another key factor was the fallout from the Apt 1505 murders in Surrey B.C. Public outrage over the fact that two of the six men executed were innocent bystanders, led to an intensified investigation. Police task forces received rare cooperation from gang associates who had previously maintained steadfast loyalty to Roueche, and were thus able to mount the tri-nation operation which culminated in his arrest. It remains to be seen if Roueche's lieutenants will successfully hold the distribution territory in the Fraser Valley and Vancouver suburbs which their boss assembled hit by hit.

At the pre-trail hearing in Seattle Roueche's lawyer offered a raft of testimonials including a statement from his family which claims he is a dutiuful father of three girls. A Buddhist temple in Langley, B.C. (a registered charity) provided a reference letter written by its President, Savath Homsab, which claims Roueche "regularly volunteered in fund-raising and doing all variety works to build up our temple." Roueche's father, Rupert, also provided a letter of support. The UN Gang leader is said to be his "only son," a good boy who in 1993 graduated from Sardis Secondary School in Chilliwack. Roueche put his son Clayton in Tae Kwan Do classes at age 12, with no thought of him using that discipline for criminal purposes.