Vancouver's lethal cocaine market and covering some media buttcrack

One of the B.C. citizens who were gunned down in Mexico in 2009. Note his blood soaked Hockey Hall of Fame shirt. What the pampered people of Metro Vancouver refuse to accept is that their selfish consumption of "recreational drugs" is causing the slaughter of tens of thousands of people in Latin America, many thousands of them women and children. Every "Justin" and "Traci" living here in "The Greatest Place on Earth" who persists in dialling-for-dope from people like Jinagh Navas-Rivas, is complicit in the murders of people at the source of supply. The news media frequently report that an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 people have been butchered in Mexico alone, in the wars between drug distribution networks. The narco-business is so pervasive that law enforcement and civil governments of several Mexican states have fallen under the control of the largest drug gangs.

A few hours after I asked the question "Is the RCMP being coy?" I got my answer when a spokesman for the RCMP in B.C. explained why they used a grainy snapshot of Jinagh Navas-Rivas, instead of the HQ photographs available from news media or from Mayor Robertson's VISION Campaign. The RCMP Sergeant acknowledged that the connection between Mayor Gregor Robertson and his foster son was "in the public domain" but neither RCMP or Vancouver PD were going to comment on it. Hence the reversion to the crappy photo. Good news for the bad guy, who remains at large. The story has already (as of noon today) dropped from the Vancouver Sun main page.

If you have the stamina, you can watch the full briefing by the RCMP Sergeant on the CBC Website HERE It's over ten minutes in length. He refers to the cocaine-Meth-steroid selling gang in Richmond, B.C. as a "dial-a-dope" ring, and he pronounced the suspect name Jinagh as "Jinash". Jinagh Farrouch Navis-Rivas is a curious hybrid name, typical of multicultural Vancouver region. Perhaps one birth parent is North African and the other Latino? The SUN tells us they reside in our area.

What I found more interesting was the Vancouver SUN covering it's buttcrack with a staff editorial. The SUN, which receives an enormous amount of $$$ advertising revenue from Vancouver City Hall, has published an editorial congratulating Mayor Robertson for fostering Jinagh Navas-Rivas "Opinion - Kudos to the Robertson's for taking a chance on a troubled boy" - this while the "boy" is still on the run, along with several fellow outlaws - all possibly armed, considering three handguns have already been seized by Richmond RCMP. (Jump to the SUN and read it for yourself.) Hopefully the SUN will offer equally sincere kudos to any police officer who takes a bullet in the head, fired by any such "troubled" youth.

Simpler folk read something sinister in reports of OPINION CONVERGENCE - the media - the politicians- and the police start wearing kid gloves when dealing with armed drug crews. Jinagh Navas-Rivas isn't a buck-toothed Ozark hillbilly running a little moonshine. He's a good looking, self-assured young leader (remember the dapper Bacon brothers?) who has communed with many of Vancouver's financial-political elite. The smile may fool a Crown Prosecutor next week, but it doesn't deceive those of us grown tired of the handsome young gangsters peddling drugs in our province.

The National Post covered the launch of the free-distribution of crack cocaine smoking kits in downtown Vancouver. The Dec. 30/11 story is here - $60,000 Trial Project The news got got world-wide attention. Even the DRUDGE REPORT (two million page visits per day) linked to the story, which describes efforts of the Health Department to reduce disease associated with the slovenly use of narcotic drugs.

UN Gangster and Game 7 rioter juxtaposed - Which one would make a better neighbour?

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HAPPY HOOLIGANS
At the risk of being the last person in the world to give an opinion on the Stanley Cup Riot, I will throw in a few observations of my own. Rarely do my views coincide with the "Main Stream" so I will not be repeating what's already been written. The initial riot was staged between the CBC building and the Post Office, and created countless photo opportunities as the V.P.D. dispersed the crowd harbouring small pockets of experienced thugs, who roved the downtown seeking soft targets for vandalism. Not so destructive as North American riots go, this event was rather tame, but it stings local pride because of the premium Vancouverites (and their government) place on "image".

I was born and raised in a much grittier province - New Brunswick, so I saw a few riots in my youth which were not recorded by cameras. I recall black versus white rioting, and recall the happy hell raising when this or that police union walked off the job, effectively surrendering a town to the mob. My home city of Saint John, N.B. has a history of rioting and killing (ethnic hatreds and labour clashes) which extends back to the 1840s. I was thinking of the "bad old days" as I watched on TV a pair of Vancouver policemen permitting a crowd of jubilant jerks in Canucks jerseys burn two new patrol cars. Now, we have all seen what four motivated federal troopers can do to an unarmed Polish immigrant at the YVR airport, so this surrender of authority was disheartening to say the least. Were the cops intimidated by this mob of happy hooligans? Really? NO. Something else was going on.

None of the hate inspired ugliness of historical Canadian riots can compare to the Game 7 Riot in Vancouver. This is a new phenomenon. A handsome crowd of middle and upper middle-class British Columbians trashed a downtown district for fun, and for the benefit of the media which had deployed staff to cover an eruption of emotion - win or lose, and was not to be denied. Healthy, happy and fashionably dressed, the rioters photographed themselves for hours, committing acts of vandalism, arson and theft. The media had a hot story to peddle worldwide.

SUPERLATIVES
Vancouverites are a boastful bunch, seemingly starving for attention. What were the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games if not a recklessly expensive exercise in self-promotion. What my generation fails to recognize is the latent hostility and aggression in their children, which is manifested in wasteful and destructive behaviors. The fact that so many outraged citizens sought to shame the rioters, bu outing them online, was a healthy process. It would be a powerful social trend - IF - it continued. I ask myself who ultimately is the more dangerous, a teenager ("elite athlete") who brazenly tries to ignite the gas tank of a police car in the midst of crowd of people, or a gangster cold blooded enough to shoot a rival in the parking lot of an IGA? Another question might be, "Who would you prefer as a neighbor - a teen arsonist or one of the bosses of the U.N. gang?" I would rather have the gangster next door, and the reasoning is simple. The gangster has no reason to harm me, or destroy my property. But who is safe from a brazen teen who has torched a police car in front of cameras and in front of the policemen?

I am just one of many cynics who knew the Game 7 Riot was going to take place. I know that the police prefer containment over suppression, and no doubt the Blue Wall recognized many nieces and nephews in the crowd. Still, the sight of policemen standing by as Nathan Kotylak and his buddies torched their ride, was jarring. I might have preferred one of the cops pull his pistol and warn him "Back away from the taxpayer's property, lawless youth". But they didn't. Now it is left to the general public to respond to an expensive new phenomenon - anarchy as entertainment.

Both premeditated crimes - a destructive riot and a planned murder, evidence a callous disregard for human life, so it might be hard to choose between the thugs. I watched those two police cars being torched on Live television, as did a half million others. We all knew that riot would occur, just as we know that there are still thousands of bored youths in our city who fantasize of their own opportunity to put one over on Vancouver law enforcement. With the proliferation of video and cellphone cameras, it's only a matter of time before a local TV station gets the "scoop" of broadcasting someone being stomped to death, just as we got to witness Robert Dziekanski being electrocuted by RCMP tasers.

Nathan Kotylak, wearing the uniform of the Vancouver Canucks, went downtown to wage war. We don't know all he carried in that backpack, but the old dress shirt he is stuffing into the gas tank of the police cruiser did not materialize from thin air. The "star athlete" does not smoke yet he carries tools to light up. He is wearing a hoody, standard gear for the urban anarchist, but at the Game 7 Riot he chose not to conceal his identity. [Photo scraped from the Net, but attributed to Gerry Kahrmann] Video taken at the crime scene, showing Kotylak throwing burning newspaper through the window of the $50,000 police car, is available on Youtube, as is the press conference Kotylak gave to express his regrets for his part in the riot.

Nathan Kotylak, of Maple Ridge, B.C. , is once again under parental spervision. He is shown here posing with his mother Josephine Kotylak, (a Nurse), and his father Dr. Greg Kotylak. (a Surgeon) After the teenage arsonist was "outed" by Social media, he lawyered up and contacted the Vancouver Police Department. As these are his first criminal acts of record, Kotylak will not be punished. Dr. Kotylak told a reporter that "Nathan's behavior that night does not reflect his true character."

OUTING THE OUTLAWS IN OUR MIDST
Kim Bolan is the famous Vancouver Sun reporter who specializes in local Asian criminals, violent street gangs and Sikh terrorists. Her reports are particularly interesting when she uncovers linkages to the white bread stakeholders in the drug trade - businessmen, lawyers, accountants, realtors, etc. who (witting or unwitting) provide capital or services to the outlaws. On June 21 she shared some of her knowledge of the visit to Burnaby Metrotown of Conor Vincent D'Monte, who is key figure in the UN Gang. Bolan's article is here: Real Estate Council of B.C. probes gang leader's house transactions.

In brief the story is this. A young, healthy male walks into a law office and requests the lawyer witness documents. He wants to transfer sole ownership of his valuable property (7350 Pandora Street , Burnaby) into the hands of his wife, who was said to be a "house wife". It transpired that Ms. Kong had secured employment as a licensed real estate sales person, for the firm which listed the property which D'Monte had transferred to her. The lawyer told the SUN that he did not know that he was witnessing the signature of a local man wanted for murder, and more - he wasn't curious. The SUN published the document on its web page: Had lawyer Larry Routtenburg simply Googled his client "Conor D'Monte", as I did after reading Bolan's story, he would have found on the first page of results an RCMP WANTED Bulletin, complete with colour photograph. The SUN was not implying that the legal profession should begin to 'rat out' clients to FINTRAC or the RCMP, but as a reader I was struck by one more telling juxtaposition - In the same week of saturation news coverage about a widespread effort by law abiding folks to assist their police in identifying the looters and arsonists of the Game 7 Riot, we also read of a professional man with a trained mind, who was not moved to question the motives of a couple who wanted to swap identities on a property.

Conor D'Monte, of Anglo-Indian ancestry, has a Middle Class background shared by several other UN Gang members. He was raised on the west side of Vancouver and his parents were initially involved in the purchase of the Pandora property in 2006. (Ref - Global TV webpage) It was listed In April for $1.58 million. Conor's late father Vincent D'Monte was a family therapist (registered with the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy) and his mother Therese is said to be a photographer. Clearly the D'Monte brothers chose the life of a gangster for reasons other than poverty.

AND FINALLY THIS USEFUL LINK TO GAME 7 RIOT IMAGES- A revealing set of photos taken during the Stanley Cup Game 7 Riot was published on CRYPTOME last week. It's worth a look. VANCOUVER RIOT AS PERFORMANCE ART.

BREAKING NEWS- WAS JULY 7th BURNABY ARSON RETALIATION AGAINST U.N. GANG LEADER D'MONTE ? In the early morning hours of July 7th, one or more intruders placed two propane cylinders against the wall of the Burnaby luxury home owned by UN Gang leader Conor D'Monte, and ignited them. There were two people in the home at the time of the attack. They escaped but the property was heavily damaged. Was this just retaliation in the form of an arson, or attempted murder? We'll never know. D'Monte is currently on the run, and no doubt his wife's phones are all tapped. Burning her out, won't smoke him out. The SUN story, with photo is here. A recent Metrotown arson, the penthouse blaze on Grange Street, was definitely an attempted murder by arson. I recall Blogging that fire in March. the story is HERE.

GANGSTER GUN BUST IN BURNABY - silencer fitted weapons may relate to bust at Burnaby EIGHT RINKS in 2006

A police raid in Burnaby on May 30 uncovered an arsenal of weapons, which included three handguns and a baby Uzi machine pistol equipped with suppressors ("silencers"). Yesterday the Vancouver news media, and today the two Burnaby newspapers, reported on the lucky haul. Well... actually the news media simply published the RCMP handout text, in some cases even adding a reporter's byline. (Hey, it's only plagiarism when students do it.)

What I find strange is their failure to provide any context, as if it is now routine to encounter an armourer living in a middle class B.C. neighborhood. I would like to see local police do what the Federal Police do in Mexico - put the arrested gangsters on display along with the weapons seized. You are never going to see the faces of the hundreds arrested each year in British Columbia for serious crimes, and that is exactly why they live amongst us with impunity.

This photo shows a table dressed with weaponry seized from the 7000 block Curtis Avenue, Burnaby on May 30, 2011. The auto-loading 12 gauge shotgun and the .44 Magnum revolver are the most lethal. Smaller calibre pistols have been threaded for improvised suppressors (silencers) as has the baby Uzi, which looks like it wouldn't have sufficient internal volume to handle the hot gases in auto fire. Note that the ammunition is displayed in the black metal box which comes with the collector edition of Grand Theft Auto 4 for X Box. I guess the 24 year old who was arrested on Curtis Street with the guns and the half pound bag of Marijuana, has a thing for hot video games as well as destructive devices.

Two significant weapons seizures in Burnaby, though five years apart, seem related as both involve crudely fabricated suppressors (silencers) for rifles, pistols and submachine guns. In July 2006 it was revealed that the parking lot at Burnaby EIGHT RINKS, 6501 Sprott, was the favored spot for arms transfers, because it is a high traffic location where muscular men are commonly seen taking bulky hockey bags out of large vehicles and stuffing them into others. Note that EIGHT RINKS is less than ten minutes from where another batch of home-made silencers, of very similar manufacture, was discovered earlier this week.

This crudely made suppressor, fitted to an Uzi SMG, was seized in Burnaby, May 30, 2011. It bears close resemblance to suppressors trading hands in the parking lot of nearby EIGHT RINKS in 2006. I'm convinced that these devices are not properly made. Perhaps the RCMP would arrange a demonstration of these basement built silencers lately turning up in Burnaby? If you would enjoy watching some PRO gunsmiths at work, check out the fascinating new show on Discovery Channel. It's called SONS OF GUNS.

Here we see a wall of weapons confiscated during PROJECT E- PORTAL, and put on display in Abbotsford in July of 2006, for the media. The operation was conducted by twelve Canadian and American agencies, which targeted a network of outlaws whose stock in trade is modified or refurbished weapons. They were selling their skills to drug gangs in Western Canada, most notoriously to the infamous UN Gang which was based in Abottsford, B.C. The weapons included (in one seizure) 27 WW2 era STEN guns seized in Winnipeg and several ex-Canadian Army BREN guns seized in B.C. and assembled in one place for the news conference. Noteworthy in the photo are weapons fitted with sound suppressors (silencers) made from commonly available metal tubing. They are crudely made, with no attempt to apply a non-reflective finish. Essentially these devices are made to impress or intimidate. One STEN has been used in a Surrey murder, but I do not recall the police claiming that a silenced automatic weapon has been used in our area. A badly made suppressor actually risks injury to the shooter and increases the chance of a jamming. Not good if you are a small assassin targeting some behemoth of a drug dealer fresh from the gym.

Professionally manufactured suppressors (this example is used by NAVY SEALS) have screw threaded caps at each end so that the device can be easily disassembled and cleaned out. In addition the suppressor is blued to match the firearm. The gangland armourers of B.C. seem to lack the skills to manufacture military grade suppressors. If you want to know more about these simple devices, read Suppressor.wiki which includes illustrations of several types. Your nearest public library has much more.

UN GANG, RED SCORPIONS, INDEPENDANT SOLDIERS - these hits are getting boring

The details of the last four execution murders in B.C. were so pedestrian that the news media didn't even bother to go out and secure photos of the dead. The soldiers in Vancouver drug gangs are going to have to make an effort, maybe use a flamethrower or a piano wire garrot or something equally sinister PDQ, or their moves will disappear completely from tomorrow's headlines.
True the SUN gave Todd "Joe" Kranz the front page yesterday, because a reporter had a scoop with confidential documents, but most gangster killings are now getting lost in the back pages. The only gangsters worth writing about these days are men who are high tier, because the very process of connecting dots makes a story. Simply getting gunned down in a parking lot is not sufficient excuse to chase after your family for a quote. Most reporters are content with Google sniffing a few quotes and a picture from Facebook tribute pages.

In October we read of Jimmy (Grover) Lee shot in front of his rental over there in Surrey. Jimmy was a crack shack operator and an auto parts fence. On the same day up in Prince George, B.C. two denizens of an infamous drug crib were executed. They were Brittany Giese, age 19, and Garrett McComb, age 23. That single day body count allowed some Media the novelty of a hat trick headline. Soon after, Rukesh Rutnam Naidu, a "soldier" who was "known to police", was gunned down in the parkade at Oakridge Mall. Naidu's death got a little more air play because he was whacked in an upscale locale, but other than that, nobody really gave a shit. And since Oakridge Mall has more cameras than an Iranian nuclear reactor facility, there is video of the Naidu set up, but we will never see it.

WORLD EXTREME FIGHTING on Clearbrook Road in Abbotsford, B.C. - the site of B.C.'s most recent drug dealer execution. Joe Krantz was cornered in a stairwell at the rear and riddled with bullets.


The late Joe Krantz, posing in corn-row hair job and flashing a bad-ass gangster hand signal proves he was just as culturally confused as he was criminal. This is the photo the Vancouver SUN Google-sniffed, scraped and published with Joe's goodbye story. It's lifted from an extreme sports website.

Honestly folks, time is our most precious commodity, and even though the Vancouver crime file has its rewards, the constant thinning of the herd in gangster land is getting really tiring. Unless they bump off an ex-MLA who invests in the drug trade or a some gorgeous Asian babe who loves her soldier, the print media are soon going to fall asleep. Kim Bolan will keep at it, but even she must be getting worried about devoting her whole life to one song. Punjabi terrorists and seedy dropout drug thugs are horrible company to host in any healthy mind.

This is the two page summary, heavily redacted, of the testimony of Cassidy Krantz, after she was removed from the home. Only an eight year old, she offered more explicit detail than the police usually get out of adult witnesses.

UN Gang leads infiltration of Vancouver Real Estate Companies

Michael Bradley Gordon was shot to death in Chilliwack on August 25th. One more sad death in a protracted vendetta which shows no sign of of running out of bullets. What distinguishes Mr. Gordon's case is that he was the second local realtor with known associations to the incredibly ruthless UN Gang to be executed over the summer. (The other was Elliott Castaneda, slain in Mexico on July 12.)

The Mike Gordon story took on a more sinister aspect when Kim Bolan posted a few provincial documents online which revealed that Mike Gordon wasn’t just a real estate salesperson like Castaneda, he was an Agent. While the public makes no distinction between the role of Salesperson and of Agent - the Tax Man does, and so does FINTRAC. "Agents" are owners who employ the licensed sales staff who provide service to the public. Agents train and supervise the sales force, they hold the deposits on Real Estate deals, they pay out the commission cheques to realtors, and much, much more. Agents are granted a higher level of discretion by the tax authorities, en par with accountants and lawyers, and if you have one in your pocket it’s a great assist to laundering money.

Mike Gordon was the owner of two companies - one the brokerage BEST BET REALTY registered on August 14, 2007 and the other a vehicle to spin real estate franchises, which was registered in April of 2008. Mr. Gordon was a personal friend of Clayton Roueche and he personally handled Roueche’s real estate portfolio. Roueche is the now infamous leader of the UN Gang, currently being held in a federal lockup in Seattle. Bolan, an investigative reporter for the Vancouver Sun, has interviewed both of Roueche’s parents at length. She taped an interview with Rupert Roueche, and the father is clearly getting frustrated that his own life is also becoming an open book. Roeuche's parents have been insisting for months that their son kept his activities separate from family life, and yet we now learn that father and sons had friends in common. "Rupert …confirmed that [Mike] Gordon was his real estate agent and a "good friend" and that he was advertising Gordon's company with a billboard on his property.”

It was Glenda Luymes, who covers the Fraser Valley beat for The Vancouver Province, who claims to have learned the reason why Mike Gordon was killed. She reported that “Murdered Chilliwack realtor Michael Gordon was buying and selling property for the UN Gang's jailed leader -- and hanging out with one of his sworn enemies.” Luymes seems very confident of her “source” but did not indicate whether the source was law enforcement or a gang associate. Her article implies that Rouche was displeased with Gordon and considered his behavior an actionable betrayal.
This begs the question of how Roueche could order a killing when he is in close confinement in Seattle? The SUN has reported that Roeuche used coded signals to issue orders from his cell last May, but surely he no longer has that ability. Is is not more likely that this killing has something to do with the ongoing investigation of the illicit income and spending habits of UN Gang associates, including realtors, which is being conducted by the Tax Man? Mark LaGrange (above) is also a key figure in this drama, and he is still alive. LaGrange, who refused to talk with reporters, is named on documents quoted in a SUN exclusive. The documents record the purchase of a Coquitlam condo by Clayton Roueche in 2007, before his arrest in the United States. LaGrange was also involved in recruiting salespersons for the company Mike Gordon set up in Surrey, B.C. At last count there were seventeen persons on staff in the BEST BET office.

Attempts were made to portray Gordon as a victim of circumstance but law enforcement wasn’t having any of that. A spokesman for the Chilliwack Detachment RCMP stated: "It may surprise you in what capacity or in what area that some of these individuals may work or operate, but definitely, this victim is known to police." Specific reference was made to “police intelligence” which means that Gordon may not have been charged with anything but he was an active investigation file. We already know that Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU) grabs the curbside garbage of gangsters as often as they can, so one must assume that most of Mike Gordon’s waste paper is archived somewhere.

So how to attract sales people and gain some credibility for Gordon’s “instant” brokerage, and without spending too much money? Well he seems to have assigned that task to an assistant. Just ten days before the boss was murdered Mark LaGrange placed an Ad on Craig’s List attempting to entice sales people to come over to BEST BET.
“No monthly Fees
No Coffee Fund
No Desk Fee
No Joke
Don't lose your license during the hard times, you worked so hard to get it! Join Best Bet Realty Ltd. and get through the hard times. Take advantage of this offer now!!! Contact Mark LaGrange at Best Bet Realty Ltd. Toll Free 1 866 860 7117 or by email: XXXX @shaw.ca”

Lena Sin and Glenda Luymes shown in THE PROVINCE newsroom, September 2007. At the time they had just completed a two month investigation of gang culture in Vancouver.

Glenda Luymes, who handles the Fraser Valley beat for The Province newspaper, interviewed Integrated Gang Task Force spokesman Sgt. Shinder Kirk . He said "It's not surprising organized crime would turn to real estate. There would be a benefit to having someone in that profession as part of your organization." Kirk pointed out that gangs, "like any other business organization" must recruit members with a variety of skills.

I was curious to read the comments of Larry Buttress who answered the reporter's questions on behalf of the Real Estate Council of B.C. His remarks were so bland that they testify to a culture of neglect in the industry. “Certainly it's concerning to us when we hear about Realtors who are involved in things they shouldn't be . . . but it's not a perfect world." Mr. Buttress thought it was enough to assure the public that neither Gordon nor Castaneda had a disciplinary record with the council.

FINTRAC: I would like to see the SUN and the PROVINCE do some federal Access to Information searches for FINTRAC records which might reveal the extent of organized crime infiltration of the Industry in B.C. We are warned that the scale of illicit drug activity is now 'off the scale'. FINTRAC officers are constantly giving presentations to Real Estate companies in the Lower Mainland which scare the hell out of honest Realtors. They repeatedly warn salespeople that it's there legal duty to report all criminal activity they spot in the course of their daily work. (And risk what level of retaliation?)
[The CREA FINTRAC Compliance Page is here.] It would be instructive to learn if management level is taking any of the responsibility, or just contenting themselves with milking many thousands of Realtors of exorbitant fees.

For an interesting little sampling of how FINTRAC "compliance officers" actually go about their Intelligence gathering in the hunt for bad eggs among Vancouver Realtors, have a gander at "Dealing with FINTRAC" by Marty Douglas. It's posted on JUROCK.COM.

CBC British Columbia has an online scoreboard for 2007 & 2008 gangland hits. (Use the link at upper right) On Sept. 2 the board shows 18 "targeted shootings," the local euphemism for execution murders. Some of the pistol tags are actually sites of multiple killings. Each tag opens to a data card and also a link to a news story. Note - Mike Gordon is not listed.

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.

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.