Five shootings in six days, including a gangland execution at Metrotown, have police fearing a new gang war

Five shootings in six days, including a gangland execution at Metrotown, have police fearing a new gang war is brewing across the Lower Mainland.

A power vacuum among mid-level Metro Vancouver gangs could be behind a string of shootings in recent days.

On Thursday night, two gang-linked men were shot at about 6 p.m. as they drove along Westminster Highway in Richmond. Last Saturday, longtime gangster Gurmit Singh Dhak was executed point-blank just before 6 p.m. at Burnaby’s busy Metrotown mall. And last Friday, young men known to police were wounded in shootings in both Mission and Delta.

Sgt. Shinder Kirk, who speaks for the Gang Task Force, said that among gangs right now there is “tension and instability that has led to unacceptable levels of violence on our streets.”

“In the last few weeks we have seen an increase in violent incidents in Metro Vancouver, including the murder of Gurmit Dhak,” Kirk said Friday.

“All murders are disturbing and when these violent acts occur in a public place it significantly impacts public safety and that’s simply unacceptable.”

He said all RCMP and municipal forces and their joint special units are sharing intelligence and “committed to identifying the source of the conflict and those responsible.”

“We are aware of many of the issues at the root of this conflict and are in constant communication with all Metro Vancouver RCMP detachments and police departments regarding this potential risk to public safety,” Kirk said. “At this point it is premature to make any connections between the shootings.”

Violent mid-level gangs like the Red Scorpions and United Nations are in disarray after the high-profile arrests of their leaders. As loyalties shift and former allies battle over drug territory, things turn violent.

Dhak, 32, was a major player in the Surrey drug trade, controlling a large swath of territory. He had a relationship with the Red Scorpions, but was not in the gang. He had been targeted by assassins twice before his murder.

On paper, Dhak was a businessman, registering his company GS Global Contracting in January 2007 — months before masked gunmen opened fire on him at Vancouver’s Quattro on Fourth restaurant. He survived that attack. His company is no longer in good standing, according to the B.C. Corporate Registry.

In early 2009, Dhak bought a Burnaby penthouse for $565,000. He had two leased vehicles — a 2008 Acura MDX and a 2008 Mercedes CLS63 AMG.

Abbotsford police Chief Bob Rich told a packed public meeting Tuesday that the Duhre brothers — Sandip, Balraj and Paul — have replaced the Red Scorpions gang as the main drug trafficking group in the Fraser Valley.

“The Duhre brothers — three brothers that worked at one point for [slain Vancouver gangster] Bindy Johal — now control drugs in Abbotsford,” Rich said. “We are going after them.”

Det. Andrew Wooding, of the Abbotsford Police Gang Suppression Unit, said the new wave of violence is a “repositioning of various groups and individuals, particularly in the Fraser Valley.”

“There is a lot of talk in the drug and gang subculture about who is taking over and who is losing power,” Wooding said Friday. “The police in the Lower Mainland are engaged at every level in an effort to prevent violence.”

But he said that gang life continues to be a potentially deadly pastime.

“There is no honour, loyalty or respect in the gang-drug subculture no matter the group,” Wooding said, playing on the slogan of the once powerful United Nations gang.

“Anyone involved should think seriously if it is worth their life to be involved.”



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