Vancouver gang ‘functionally dismantled’ after seven men charged
Vancouver gang ‘functionally dismantled’ after seven men charged
BY KIM BOLAN, VANCOUVER SUN APRIL 23, 2009
VANCOUVER - Vancouver police have charged another seven gangsters with 69 offences related to firearms, violence and drugs as part of Project Rebellion.
Insp. Mike Porteous said Thursday the arrests have “functionally dismantled” a south Vancouver gang dubbed the Sanghera crime group.
The new arrests come a month after police announced five other arrests in the same investigation, including accused gang leader Udham Singh Sanghera, 58 and his alleged lieutenant Gordon Taylor, 42.
Police said then that the Sanghera group and rival Buttar gang had been linked to about 100 Vancouver shootings in recent years.
Porteous said Thursday that during the lengthy probe police actually witnessed some gunplay between gang members.
Police showed reporters a video of three of the Sanghera gang getting arrested outside their homes this week. (Click here to see the video.)
Udham’s son Bobby Sanghera swore at police as they placed handcuffs on him.
“Can I put my shoes on at least?” he asked.
A second accused, 20-year-old Jaspreet Virk, appeared to shout at someone off-camera as he was loaded into the police cube van.
“I just got charged with guns,” he said before swearing at police.
Investigators are still looking for one of the accused, 20-year old John Holler, an associate of the Sanghera group who is facing four gun counts.
Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu said law enforcement is curbing the violence in the gang war that has left dozens dead over the last two years.
“A few weeks ago I told you that the Vancouver region had turned into the battleground in a brutal gang war,” Chu said at a news conference.
“I am pleased today to stand here and tell you that we have taken a major step to suppressing this plague of gang violence by dismantling another violent crime group.”
Jaspreet Virk, Bobby Sanghera, his cousin Navdip Sanghera and Charanjit Rangi are all facing several counts of possession of a prohibited firearm, riding in a vehicle with a firearm and having a gun with an altered serial number. Another Sanghera relative, Savdip Sanghera, is charged with several gun counts, as well including weapons trafficking.
Twenty-four year old Kyle Van Leeuwen was also arrested on gun charges.
VPD deputy chief Doug LePard said dealing with Metro Vancouver’s gang war is a bit like playing “Whack-a-Mole.”
“If it was just one gang fighting a second gang perhaps the answer would be simple. The problem is that the Lower Mainland is plagued with many gangs, the members often freely move back and forth among the gangs, doing deals for whoever will hire them and they attract a variety of enemies along the way,” he said. “Trying to eliminate this web of criminals is a bit like the arcade game ‘Whack-a-Mole’ - as soon as you hit one, another one pops up. You can’t hope to make a difference by just taking them out one at a time.”
He said the concept behind Project Rebellion was to target the most violent gangs “who posed the greatest threat to the safety of our community.”
Chu said he hopes that two recent bail decisions keeping Udham Sanghera behind bars will be precedent for other gang cases, including the new charges against other members of the Sanghera gang.
“These decisions establish a valuable precedent and I know that Crown Counsel will be using these decisions to support the detention of these additional accused gang members,” Chu said.
And he warned other gangsters that police are coming for them – whether it be his department, the Integrated Gang Task Force or the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.
Let me make this clear, the police in the Vancouver region are taking a very hard line against gangs.
“If you are involved in gang violence, we will find you. It may not be today or tomorrow, but you should know that we will not rest and we will never give up,” Chu said. “Our efforts are supported by every law abiding citizen in our community.”
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Vancouver+gang+functionally+dismantled+after+seven+charged/1526306/story.html
The Vancouver Sun
