GANGLAND GODFATHER

Udam Sanghera, 58, and co-accused Gordon Taylor, 42, are charged with multiple weapons offences.Judge Jeanne Watchuk placed a ban on publication of evidence on the bail application for Sanghera.Police allege the gang he ran is in a bitter turf war with the rival Buttar-Malli gang.Sheldon Goldberg said police are using his client as a scapegoat because they have not found the people responsible for the Lower Mainland's recent string of killings. (CBC)"Udham Sanghera is the head of the 15-member Sanghera crime group, which operates in southeast Vancouver," Vancouver police Insp. Mike Porteous said during a news conference last Friday."That family is in direct conflict with the Bhuttar-Malli group and this conflict has over the past couple of years resulted in close to 100 shootings in that area of the city." Sanghera has not been charged in connection with any shootings.There were no publication bans issued on Taylor’s bail hearing because his lawyer, Sheldon Gold...

Vancouver police identified a man shot in a targeted hit in a Nanaimo Street basement suite last week as 24-year-old Nicholas Gordon Smith. According to court files, Smith has faced production of narcotics and trafficking charges over the last two years. He won acquittals on several of those charges in the fall of 2007.

Three bullet casings were found at the scene of the shooting, which happened just before 4 a.m. on Northeast 29th Circle. Residents at a home in the area said they saw someone fire a handgun out the window of the car as it drove by the home.Vancouver police detectives are investigating a drive-by shooting that may be gang-related.After the shooting, the car's information was relayed to Portland police, who stopped the car within an hour.Three people were detained. As of early Saturday morning, there had been no arrests made. The names of the people involved have not been released. Police said the shooting was possibly gang-related.

Mandeep Kumar Ranga thought he was being kidnapped when plainclothes RCMP officers arrived at his parents' Vancouver house Thursday.He began screaming that it was an abduction attempt and his panicked folks called Vancouver Police's emergency line.In fact, Ranga, 26, was being arrested on a U.S. extradition warrant after being charged in the U.S. with Conspiracy to Import a Controlled Substance, Importation of a Controlled Substance and Conspiracy to Possess the Proceeds of Crime.The RCMP officers wore clothing with the force's initials clearly identified, media relations officer Cons. Annie Linteau said in a release."During the arrest, Ranga became confrontational with arresting officers and began screaming for help and yelling that he was being kidnapped," she said. "A physical confrontation ensued requiring several officers to subdue Ranga."The RCMP had already informed the city force about their impending arrest, but the VPD still responded to the 91...

Hundreds of members of the notorious biker gang are gathering at the Hells Angels clubhouse in Langley, B.C., this weekend to mark the anniversary of the chapters in Vancouver, Nanaimo and White Rock.The Hells Angels are celebrating their 25th anniversary in parts of B.C., and an expert in biker gangs says they're still at the top of the criminal pack.The B.C. Lower Mainland has recently seen a wave of gang violence that has left dozens dead, but author Yves Lavigne says those killings have largely involved fledgling Asian street gangs.Lavigne, who's written several books on the Hells Angels, says newer gangs are far more violent than an established group like the Angels, who prefer bribes and intimidation over guns to solve their problems.But just because the Hells Angels have a lower profile, Lavigne says the public shouldn't think the bikers aren't a menace.He says the group has learned to keep its activities under the public radar and learn from their mistakes, allo...

Police allege that the Hells Angels have been involved with agencies that supply exotic dancers to strip clubs. A former Cecil bouncer, Michael Plante, had been a Hells Angels enforcer and later infiltrated the East End chapter as a paid police agent. Plante is now in witness protection."It was a crazy scene . . . fists, chairs, bottles were flying inside the bar," said Const. Tim Fanning of the Vancouver police department.A 30-year-old Richmond man was shot dead and a second man injured after a "wild west" fight broke out at Cecil strip club in downtown Vancouver Wednesday.According to police, the fight broke out around 10:30 p.m., and involved between 20 and 30 men. The Cecil is slated for redevelopment with a 22-storey residential tower proposed for the site.Minutes later, a single shot fired inside the bar sent panicked patrons and staff running out into the parking lot at the rear of the building at 1336 Granville.Outside, gunfire again erupted with bullets str...

Ruben Molina, a prosecutor in Honduras, told media yesterday that the gangs are extremely violent - MS-13 particularly. They're known to dismember their victims and a candidate must commit a robbery and murder just to gain entry into the organization. violent Central American gangsters turning up on Metro Vancouver's streets. Supt. John Robins, the officer in charge of the B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force, said police have seen several members of MS-13 and M18 - two of Central America's biggest gangs - in B.C., but stressed that the organizations haven't set up shop here. "It's been an ongoing trend over the last number of years," he said. "We want to make sure it doesn't develop into a huge significant problem in Canada. We have enough of a gang problem as it is." To get a leg up on the groups, RCMP invited prosecutors from Honduras and Guatemala - where there are up to 200,000 members among the two gangs - to Vancouver during this week's...

More gangland killings this weekend both victims ambushed outside their homes have provoked what has become a dreary mantra by police spokesmen: a targeted killing, victim known to the police,On Friday, just before midnight, an armed assailant walked up to a Mercedes SUV parked in the driveway of a Surrey home in the vicinity of 90th Avenue and 141A and opened fire on Nhant Truong (Joe) Tran, 23, as he sat in the driver's seat.Tran was killed in his own driveway, in his own car, shortly after arriving home.Surrey RCMP spokesman Sgt. Roger Morrow said Tran appeared to be waiting for someone. Police were called to the home by people who heard shots fired. "The lone victim was known to police, and while at the initial stages of this investigation, investigators are of the belief that this is a targeted attack. While IHIT tries to put it all together on the Tran murder, Vancouver homicide detectives are busy trying to solve the murder of 20-year-old Kyle Richard Wong, cut down in...

Kyle Richard Wong was the ninth murder since the new violence suppression team was unveiled last fall.In November, police across the region joined forces to set up the 60-member VST.One month later, during a news conference to update their efforts, Sergeant Shinder Kirk said established gangs like the “Hells Angels”, the “UN” gang, the “Independent Soldiers” and “Red Scorpions” now have competition from smaller players. "That’s the fluidity of groups we're dealing with. You have groups that are operating in this lifestyle that don't have a name and they do come together and break apart almost as quickly."Vancouver police have confirmed a gun was found near Wong’s body on Sunday morning and they're looking for the driver of a light-coloured import vehicle.

- Testimony has concluded in a trial for a leading member of the Hells Angels accused of cocaine trafficking. The trial was conducted without publicity because Justice Anne MacKenzie of the British Columbia Supreme Court barred news media from reporting on it, the Vancouver Sun reported. The ban was partly lifted after a challenge by the Sun and other media companies. David Francis Giles, 58, a member of the motorcycle gang, is charged with trafficking "for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal organization, to wit: the East End chapter of the Hells Angels." The testimony still cannot be published. MacKenzie imposed the ban to protect the rights of other Hells Angels members scheduled for later trials A two-year police investigation included infiltrating a nightclub bouncer, Michael Plante, into the organization. Plante was promised $1 million Canadian ($994,000) for his efforts

On trial is David Francis Giles, 58, a full-patch member of the Hells Angels East End chapter, who is accused of possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking "for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal organization, to wit: the East End chapter of the Hells Angels." The case stems from a two-year, $10-million police investigation that resulted in charges against 18 men, including six Hells Angels, in July 2005. It was the largest police probe in B.C. to target the East End chapter of the Hells Angels, long considered to be the wealthiest and most sophisticated biker gang in the province. The central issue at trial is whether the chapter is a criminal organization, which was alleged in an indictment filed July 11, 2005, by Canada's deputy attorney general. If the Crown succeeds in its criminal-organization prosecution, it could put the assets of all the chapter's members - real estate holdings, cars and motorcycles -- at risk of sei...

Well-planned gangland hits are making murders tougher to solve, says B.C.'s top cop. "The gangs are very sophisticated," Solicitor-General John Les said yesterday. "They use up-to-date equipment. Our job is to make sure police have the right tools. "[But] these targeted gang-related shootings can be very hard to investigate." Les said he is not concerned about falling success rates at a regional homicide unit based in Surrey. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says its success rate has dropped from 80 per cent in 2003 to 62 per cent in 2006. Success is defined when charges are laid. "The province needs more integration in respect to homicides," Les said. He'd like to see Vancouver's large homicide unit join forces with IHIT, which has 17 member jurisdictions from Sechelt to Hope. Vancouver Police Department's success rate was almost identical with IHIT's in 2006, even though Vancouver's staff isn't as large. Const. ...

Scarpino, 37, was gunned down Saturday night as he pulled up to a downtown steak house. The Vancouver man, who had been linked to gang activities, was shot dead in an SUV by at least two men. A passenger seated behind Scarpino was also killed. Scarpino's fiancée and another man survived the ambush at what was to have been an engagement celebration. The streets were busy blocks from a Vancouver Canucks hockey game that had let out. Fifteen years after Ricardo Scarpino pulled a gun and killed a man sitting across the table from him at a busy restaurant, it was his turn at the other end of the barrel. Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu, meeting reporters at a previously scheduled press conference to unveil plans to cut violent crime by 10 per cent, instead found himself answering questions about the city's latest gang-style hit and residents' fears over the public gunplay. "People can walk the streets of Vancouver," Chu said yesterday. But he added: "They need to be...