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Vancouver Law Courts busy Monday with gang cases – UPDATE

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I have been down all day at the Vancouver Law Courts for what was supposed to be the start of the trafficking trial of gangster Sukh Dhak and his co-accused Bobby Pabla and Neville Rankin.

So far, the case remains in pre-trial motions, but will hopefully get underway Tuesday morning. The Dhak case is using the high-security courtroom that the United Nations gang case normally sits in.

Next door, in courtroom 66, is the murder ...


Dhak trial opening stalled for a second day

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I am still awaiting the start of gangster Sukh Dhak’s conspiracy to traffic trial at the Vancouver Law Courts. If this last minute pre-trial motions are completed early this afternoon, we could still get an opening later today.

The pre-trial phase is covered by a publication ban, so I can’t reveal what’s going on.

There were so many breaks in the proceedings this morning, that Dhak was able to come down to courtroom 55 and ...

Dhak the mastermind behind ecstasy lab: Crown

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Sukh Dhak’s long-awaited trial on three drug-related charges finally began in B.C. Supreme Court Wednesday, more than four years after he was arrested.

He and his co-accused, Baljit Pabla and Neville Rankin, stood up and pleaded not guilty to production of ecstasy, conspiracy to produce ecstasy and possession for the purpose of trafficking.

The trial is expected to have 25 Crown witnesses and last five weeks.

Here’s my story:

Notorious gangster Sukh Dhak behind large-scale

...

Court updates from Dhak in Vancouver to Stirling in Florida

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I just want to update you on a few court cases that I have been covering.

The Sukh Dhak, Baljit Pabla and Neville Rankin MDMA conspiracy case is now adjourned until Nov. 19th at the Vancouver Law Courts. It is still scheduled to end in December and this break in the case was always planned.

The extradition hearing against accused cocaine smuggler  Rob Sidhu is set for two hours on Nov. 29 in Superior Court ...

Sukh Dhak and Thomas Mantel dead after targeted shooting in Burnaby – UPDATE

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 I remember running into Sukh Dhak by the elevators on the fourth floor of the Vancouver Law Courts last May. It was days after Tom Gisby had been murdered. Things on the streets outside were very tense . And there we were face to face alone in the elevator.

“You should watch yourself,” I said.

“Why? What have your heard?” he asked.

“Nothing specific…but come on. Look what’s happening.”

I didn’t know Sukh beyond covering

...

Dhak drug trial adjourned in court after Monday’s slaying

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A drug trial involving slain gangster Sukh Dhak was adjourned in B.C. Supreme Court Tuesday, less than 24 hours after Dhak and his bodyguard Thomas Mantel were gunned down in Burnaby.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gail Dickson agreed to put the trial over to Dec. 3 for Dhak’s co-accused — Baljit Pabla and Neville Rankin.

Neither Dickson nor federal prosecutor Sharon Steele made mention of Monday morning’s highly public shooting in the doorway of the

...

Gang cops can’t follow targeted gangsters 24/7: CFSEU

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B.C. gang enforcement teams have headed off murders and shootings in recent months, despite the targeted slayings of two high-profile gangsters Monday, police say.

Sgt. Ghalib Bhayani, of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said uniformed teams are constantly disrupting the activities of violent gangsters.

“There are many times we have disrupted murders, potential murders, violent crimes and those are things that we just can’t release to the public,” he said. “There have been a ...

Court updates from Sukh Dhak to Jesse Margison

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A B.C. Supreme Court judge dropped drug charges against slain gangster Sukh Dhak Monday – a week after he and his bodyguard were gunned down in Burnaby.

Justice Gail Dickson granted the “abatement” or suspension of the case against Dhak, a 28-year-old who had been targeted for more than a year before he was killed along with Thomas Mantel.
Dickson told Dhak’s lawyer Emil Doricic that he was no longer required.
The trial against Dhak’s

...


Dhak and Mantel laid to rest in recent days after targeted Burnaby slaying

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There was a heavy police presence at funeral services for Sukh Dhak Sunday.  The service was held at Delta’s Riverside Crematorium, where his brother Gurmit’s service was held in October 2010.

After Gurmit’s funeral, police watched a group of gangsters gather in Kensington Park in Vancouver, where they appeared to be plotting something. They moved in and found guns, leading to charges against some of those present.

I wasn’t at Dhak’s service (everyone in my ...

McBride, Khun-Khun, Jones charged with murder – UPDATE

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Gangsters Jason McBride, Jujhar Khun-Khun and Michael Kerry Hunter Jones are now charged in connection with the brazen Aug. 2011 Kelowna gang shooting that saw Red Scorpion Jon Bacon killed, Hells Angel Larry Amero and Independent Soldier James Riach wounded.

The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, which has been leading the Kelowna investigation, made the announcement at a news conference at its Delta headquarters today.

The Vancouver Sun reported earlier that a number of suspects ...

Three Dhak associates charged in Bacon murder – UPDATE

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Three gangsters linked to the late Sukh Dhak have been charged with killing Red Scorpion Jon Bacon and wounding four of his associates in a brazen daylight shooting outside a Kelowna luxury hotel in August 2011.

Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit Chief Supt. Dan Malo said the shooting shocked the community of Kelowna and led to an intensive 18-month investigation resulting in the weekend arrests of Jason Thomas McBride, 37, Jujhar Singh Khun-Khun, 25 and

...

Dhak associates convicted of producing ecstasy for drug ring

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Two associates of the late gangster Sukh Dhak were convicted in B.C. Supreme Court Thursday for their role in a major ecstasy ring that made tens of thousands of pills.

Justice Gail Dickson said she believed, based on all the evidence during trial, that Baljit (Bobby) Pabla and Neville (Aussie) Rankin were “workers” in a conspiracy to produce ecstasy, also called MDMA, at an East Vancouver house turned-pill-factory.

Dickson said that at the time of ...

Court updates and recent rulings from B.C. to California

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I thought I would update you on a few court cases.

Accused killer Jujhar Singh Khun-Khun appeared in Surrey Provincial Court Friday after being charged recently in the murder of Red Scorpion Jon Bacon and attempted murder of four others in his vehicle when it was sprayed with gunfire in August 2011. Khun-Khun’s next appearance is slated for March 21st in Kelowna, where co-accused Jason McBride and Michael Jones will also appear. I expect, however, ...

Suspects in Duhre murder already charged in Toronto hit

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Two men charged in a high-profile Toronto murder are also suspects in the brazen Vancouver shooting of gangster Sandip Duhre in January 2012.
Vancouver police investigators have been building a case against Rabih (Robby) Alkhalil and Dean Wiwchar for the public execution of Duhre in the lobby of the Sheraton Wall Centre 14 months ago.
Both are also facing charges in the targeted murder of Johnnie Raposo last April outside a café in Toronto’s Little ...

Dhak associate gets 44-month sentence for loaded guns

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A gangster long associated to the Dhak crime group was sentenced to more than three years in jail Monday after being convicted of two counts of possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition.
Ryan Gregory Milliard, who also celebrated his 30th birthday Monday, had been arrested last March by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit for breaching court ordered conditions.
During a subsequent search of his New Westminster residence, police found two loaded semi-automatic pistols, ...


Dhak gang associates face firearms and drug charges

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Two Surrey gangsters linked to the former Dhak-Duhre-United Nations group are facing firearms and trafficking charges after an investigation by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.
Last May, police started investigating Zemaan Chaudhry, a member of the Dhak gang, after learning he had allegedly taken over drug lines that were being run by Manjinder Singh Hairan and Sukh Dhak until each was shot to death in separate targeted attacks.
CFSEU Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said “the ...

More charges for Kelowna gang associate

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In January, gang associate Shane Dankoski was charged in Kelowna with unauthorized possession of a firearm and knowingly possessing a firearm without a licence.

He was released on $7500 bail and a number of conditions.

Now he’s been charged with breaching those conditions in Surrey on May 22.

He appeared in Surrey Provincial Court May 25 and was ordered released again on $2,000 bail.

He was also charged in March with possession of stolen property and theft under $5,000 – both counts laid in Kelowna.

He’s now due to appear in court again in Surrey on June 1st and in Kelowna on July 27.

Dankoski, 30, was close to the late Sukh Dhak and his brother Gurmit before each was killed in separate shootings in 2012 and 2010.

He has also had an affiliation with the UN gang, but has more recently been linked to others running drug lines in the Okanagan.


Filed under: The Real Scoop Tagged: Breaking News, gangs, Kelowna, Kim Bolan, Real Scoop, Shane Dankoski, Sukh Dhak, Surrey, UN Gang, United Nations gang, Vancouver Sun

REAL SCOOP: Sean Kelly latest victim of Surrey gang war

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Surrey’s latest murder victim was well-known to police for his involvement in the drug trade.

Sean Christopher Kelly, 27, was shot to death July 31 about 8:20 p.m. in the 13900-block of Antrim Road.

Police were called about an injured male, but when they arrived they found Kelly fatally wounded.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is now working with Surrey RCMP in the investigation.

Kelly was once close to the late Sukh Dhak, who was shot to death in November 2012. And Kelly is still associated to Jujhar Singh Khun-Khun, charged in the August 2011 murder of Jonathan Bacon in Kelowna.

Kelly had convictions for trafficking and several breaches of court-ordered conditions.

He had a loyal crew in the dial-a-dope business, who are known as the SK guys.

Surrey has had almost 50 shootings this year.

Just last week, Jatinder (Michael) Sandhu was shot to death in the 14300-block of 90A Avenue.

IHIT said he likely was not the intended target and had no criminal history nor link to the on-going gang conflict.

 

Police believe that this shooting is linked to the conflict within Surrey. However, evidence and information obtained thus far suggests the victims may have not been the intended targets,” Staff Sgt. Jennifer Pound said at the time.

 

On July 4, the body of Brendan Aditya Chand, 27, was found in the area of Bog Park. He had been shot to death two days earlier between 10:30 p.m. and midnight.

Chand had convictions for trafficking, as well as for shooting a man in the back in Burnaby in 2011. He was sentenced to seven years for that crime in 2014. Here’s the ruling:

 

 

REAL SCOOP: Hells Angel Amero appears in Ontario court on new charges

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B.C. Hells Angels Larry Amero has appeared in an Ontario courtroom after being arrested by Vancouver Police in Ottawa Thursday and charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder in the 2012 hits on Sandip Duhre and Sukh Dhak.

Alisia Adams, of the B.C. criminal justice branch, said Friday that Amero, 40, was remanded in custody for six days to allow for his transfer to Vancouver.

B.C. prosecutors are proceeding by direct indictment, meaning both Amero and his co-accused Dean Wiwchar, 32, will have their case heard in B.C. Supreme Court, bypassing a preliminary hearing in provincial court.

Wiwchar is already in B.C. serving a life sentence for first-degree murder in the June 2012 murder of John Raposo in Toronto. 

But he was also charged this week with murder for Duhre’s fatal shooting on Jan. 17, 2012, as well as  conspiracy to commit the Dhak murder a few months later.

Amero, Alkhalil and Wiwchar were part of the WolfPack gang alliance formed several years back in B.C.

 Supt. Mike Porteous spoke to the Vancouver media today about the significance of this arrest.

I also tried to get a comment from HA spokesman, Rick Ciarniello, but he didn’t respond to my emailed request for information.

Here’s my original story:

(L) Larry Amero of the Hells Angels and the late (R) Randy Naicker, who founded the Independent Soldiers. Naicker was shot to death in 2012 in Port Moody.

Hells Angel Larry Amero arrested and charged in 2012 murder plots of rivals

Notorious B.C. Hells Angel Larry Amero has been charged with conspiracy to kill gangster rivals Sandip Duhre and Sukhveer Dhak, who died months apart in targeted 2012 shootings.

Amero, 40, was arrested in Ottawa on Thursday by Vancouver police officers, with the assistance of Ottawa police and the Ontario Provincial Police biker enforcement unit.

He will be brought to B.C. to face the conspiracy charges, Vancouver police said Thursday afternoon.

Convicted gang hitman Dean Michael Wiwchar, 32, has also been charged with one count of murder in Duhre’s January 2012 assassination, as well as conspiracy to commit the murder of Dhak in November 2012.

Vancouver police Supt. Mike Porteous announces the arrest of Hells Angels member Larry Amero in Ottawa in connection with two outstanding gang-related murders in Vancouver. Amero will be transported to B.C. to answer two charges of conspiracy to commit murder. JASON PAYNE / PNG

While the Duhre murder charge against Wiwchar is new, he was identified as the suspected hitman when he was on trial in B.C. Supreme Court in 2015 on several firearms charges.

Justice Gregory Bowden said in his ruling convicting Wiwchar on the gun counts that Vancouver police had linked a getaway car used in the Duhre hit to Wiwchar and that witnesses described the shooter as having the same height and build as Wiwchar.

And police had an informant who said someone named Alkhalil had paid Wiwchar. Investigators later found $140,000 in Wiwchar‘s safe deposit box, Bowden noted.   

Dean Wiwchar, charged in the 2012 Sandip Duhre murder

Postmedia has learned that Wiwchar was recently injured in a stabbing inside federal prison.

Rabih “Robby” Alkhalil, an associate of both Amero and Wiwchar, was already facing charges in the Duhre murder and has made several B.C. court appearances.

Both Wiwchar and Alkhalil were convicted last year of first-degree murder for the June 2012 execution of John Raposo in Toronto’s Little Italy. Their Ontario trial heard that Alkhalil brought Wiwchar in, describing him in a text message as the “best hitter.”

Wiwchar dressed like a construction worker with a reflective vest and dust mask and wore a wig to kill Raposo outside the Sicilian Sidewalk Cafe.

Until last August, Amero was charged in Quebec as an alleged leader of an international cocaine smuggling ring. But his charges were stayed after his lawyer argued that the case had taken too long to get to trial. 

West Point chapter of the Hells Angels with Amero’s image photoshopped in on the right. PNG

Amero, a B.C. longshoreman and member of the West Point chapter of the Hells Angels, was seriously injured in the August 2011 Kelowna shooting that left Red Scorpion leader Jonathan Bacon dead. Independent Soldiers gangster James Riach was in the targeted Porsche Cayenne with Bacon and Amero, but escaped injury.

Three men linked to the United Nations gang — Jason McBride, Michael Jones and Jujhar Khun-Khun — are currently on trial for the 2011 shooting. Sukh Dhak is alleged to have ordered the Kelowna hit, according to evidence at their trial.

After the Bacon murder, anti-gang police issued repeated public warnings that anyone connected to the Dhak-Duhre group could be targeted in retaliation.

A few months later Duhre was shot to death in the lobby of the Sheraton Wall Centre in downtown Vancouver. The violent conflict continued and in November 2012, Dhak and his bodyguard Thomas Mantel were gunned down outside a Burnaby hotel. 

Several associates on either side of the conflict were also murdered in cases that remain unsolved.

Amero was once part of the White Rock Hells Angels, but in 2012 moved over to the new West Point chapter, based in Langley. He was also part of the formation of a gang alliance called the Wolf Pack, made up of some Hells Angels, some Red Scorpions and some members of the Independent Soldiers.

After he was released from a Quebec jail last August, Amero settled in Ottawa, but had been returning to B.C. for brief visits.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

REAL SCOOP: Years of violent retaliation before Kelowna plea deal this month

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I spent the last few days piecing together this weekend feature about all the murders and shootings that are believed to be linked to the conflict between the so-called Dhak-Duhre-UN group and the Wolf Pack.  

The trail of destruction is devastating. So many people have been killed. So few charges have been laid. Hopefully with the May 1 pleas, and the upcoming trial of Amero, Alkhalil and Wiwchar in the Duhre shooting, some families at least will get justice.

Here’s my story:

Fatal flashpoint: Gurmit Dhak’s 2010 murder ignited a gang

war that’s still raging

 

When Independent Soldiers founder Randy Naicker stopped outside a Starbucks on a warm June afternoon six years ago, he had no idea that a rival gang had fixed a tracking device to his SUV.

Despite escaping earlier attempts on his life, Naicker ended up being an easy mark that day.

Two masked gunmen blasted him at the busy Port Moody intersection of St. Johns and Queens, before running off and hopping into a getaway vehicle. A black handgun was left near the scene.

Shocked onlookers saw Naicker collapse, fatally wounded, on the concrete beside a grey Infiniti SUV, driver’s door open, a window broken. It was June 25, 4:45 p.m.

Friends and family insist that Naicker, a convicted kidnapper and long-time gangster, had left his criminal past behind.

But to the rival gang that hunted him, it made no difference.

Larry Amero of the Hells Angels (left) with the late Randy Naicker, who founded the Independent Soldiers. Naicker was shot to death in 2012 in Port Moody. (Photo: PNG files)
Larry Amero of the Hells Angels (left) with the late Randy Naicker, who founded the Independent Soldiers. Naicker was shot to death in 2012 in Port Moody. (Photo: PNG files) PNG FILES

Just another target

He was just another target in a bloody feud that exploded after popular gangster Gurmit Dhak was gunned down outside Burnaby’s Metrotown mall in October 2010.

Dhak’s execution was the flashpoint for a near decade-long war that has raged across the province and left many dead and wounded in its wake. Few of those behind the violence have been held to account.

But earlier this month, three former Dhak associates — Jason McBride, Michael Jones and Jujhar Khun-Khun — pleaded guilty to participating in the fatal Kelowna attack that left Red Scorpion Jonathan Bacon dead in August 2011.

They admitted they plotted to kill Bacon, Hells Angel Larry Amero and Independent Soldier James Riach — who had formed the Wolf Pack alliance — on the orders of Dhak’s younger brother Sukh in retaliation for the 2010 Burnaby murder.

RCMP cruisers flood the area around the Kelowna’s Delta Grand Hotel on Aug. 14, 2011, where Red Scorpion gangster Jonathan Bacon was murdered in a very public hail of bullets. (Photo: Don Sipos, PNG files)

RCMP cruisers flood the area around the Kelowna’s Delta Grand Hotel on Aug. 14, 2011, where Red Scorpion gangster Jonathan Bacon was murdered in a very public hail of bullets. (Photo: Don Sipos, PNG files)

Jones, 31, has also been identified as a suspect in the plot to kill Naicker during the sentencing of another man, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy in August 2016.

The agreed statement of facts in the other case said that Jones accessed Naicker’s parkade before the shooting, fixed the tracking device to his vehicle and then waited for an opportunity to kill him.

So far, Jones has not been charged in connection with Naicker’s murder.

But he has admitted that he drove Bacon’s killers to Kelowna’s Delta Grand Hotel on Aug. 14, 2011, where McBride and the late Manny Hairan jumped out and began firing at a Porsche containing Bacon and his associates.

The bloodshed didn’t stop in Kelowna. Dozens of tit-for-tat murders and shootings followed.

Gurmit Dhak, killed Oct. 16, 2010
Gurmit Dhak, killed Oct. 16, 2010

Anti-gang police worked hard to stem the violence. After Bacon’s murder, they called a news conference to warn the public about the brewing tensions, explaining that the Dhak group was aligned with Sandip Duhre and his associates. The Dhak-Duhre side also had links to the already notorious UN gang, they said.

“I think the real flashpoint we saw was Gurmit Dhak getting killed — that was a big one,” Vancouver Police Supt. Mike Porteous said in a recent interview.

“The tit-for-tat violence was ongoing. Frankly — and I have said this publicly before — even today we are still dealing with a derivative of that ongoing conflict between those groups.”

A month after the Kelowna attack, Khun-Khun, who has now admitted he hunted Bacon, Amero and Riach on 30 to 40 occasions, was critically wounded in a Surrey shooting outside a house that Sukh Dhak was visiting.

Kelowna payback

In October, Dhak associate Stephen Leone, who had been part of the Kelowna hunt, was shot to death in Surrey. Hairan, one of Bacon’s killers, was wounded.

Things escalated further when Duhre was shot to death in the lobby of Vancouver’s Sheraton Wall Centre on Jan. 17, 2012. Shocked players from the U.S. and Cuban women’s soccer teams, in town for an Olympic qualifying tournament, were nearby at the time.

The payback for Kelowna was continuing.

‘The tit-for-tat violence was ongoing,’ says Vancouver police Supt. Mike Porteous. ‘Frankly, even today we are still dealing with a derivative of that ongoing conflict between those groups.’ (Photo: Jason Payne, PNG files)

‘The tit-for-tat violence was ongoing,’ says Vancouver police Supt. Mike Porteous. ‘Frankly, even today we are still dealing with a derivative of that ongoing conflict between those groups.’ (Photo: Jason Payne, PNG files)

Porteous said a “litany” of shootings and murders that spanned months were “all related and they are all intertwined more or less from that particular conflict — that Wolf Pack alliance against the Dhak-Duhre-UN alliance.”

The conflict “accelerated when some of the leaders began to get taken out,” he said.

Armed hitmen were roaming the streets of Metro Vancouver looking for more targets. Police were watching them, later executing search warrants at apartments in Vancouver and Surrey and seizing caches of firearms. Two men connected to the Wolf Pack were later convicted of possessing the guns.

The trail of violence led all the way to Mexico when Tom Gisby, a major organized crime figure in B.C. for decades, was shot to death near Puerto Vallarta. Gisby had worked closely with Gurmit Dhak for years.

Meanwhile Sukh Dhak, who police believed was calling the shots on his side of the conflict, was on trial at the Vancouver Law Courts, accused of conspiracy and drug trafficking.

His case was on a break on Monday, Nov. 26, 2012. Dhak and his burly bodyguard Thomas Mantel headed to Burnaby’s Executive Hotel on the Lougheed Highway. They arrived about 11:30 a.m. Their killer was there, too.

Both men were shot to death in front of shocked hotel workers. 

Sukh Dhak, younger brother of Gurmit Dhak, outside his B.C. Supreme Court drug trial in October 2012. The younger Dhak ordered retaliation against those he held responsible for his brother’s murder. Sukh Dhak was murdered a month later, in November at Burnaby’s Executive Hotel. (Photo: PNG files)

Sukh Dhak, younger brother of Gurmit Dhak, outside his B.C. Supreme Court drug trial in October 2012. The younger Dhak ordered retaliation against those he held responsible for his brother’s murder. Sukh Dhak was murdered a month later, in November at Burnaby’s Executive Hotel. (Photo: PNG files)

Even with the man behind the Kelowna shooting dead, the Wolf Pack wasn’t satisfied.

On Jan. 15, 2013, two of the Dhak pals directly involved in the Bacon murder were targeted on a quiet laneway in Surrey. Khun-Khun was critically injured, but miraculously survived again. Bacon shooter Manny Hairan was killed.

Within weeks, police announced first-degree murder charges against Khun-Khun, McBride and Jones for the Bacon hit and the attempts on Amero, Riach and two women passengers. 

McBride, now 42, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder May 1. The close friend of Gurmit Dhak will not be eligible for parole for 13 years. Khun-Khun and Jones were handed 18-year terms for conspiracy and will have to serve five more before they can apply for parole.

On the day of Gurmit Dhak’s funeral, McBride was one of several associates who met up afterwards in Vancouver’s Kensington Park. Anti-gang police tailed them, fearing there would be retaliation. Two of the men there were arrested with loaded guns, charged and later convicted.

Jujhar Khun-Khun (left) with the late Sukh Dhak in an undated photo. Khun-Khun pleaded guilty earlier this month to taking part in the fatal attack on Red Scorpion Jonathan Bacon outside a major Kelowna resort hotel in August 2011. Dhak was shot to death in November 2012 at a Burnaby hotel. (Photo: PNG files)
Jujhar Khun-Khun (left) with the late Sukh Dhak in an undated photo. Khun-Khun pleaded guilty earlier this month to taking part in the fatal attack on Red Scorpion Jonathan Bacon outside a major Kelowna resort hotel in August 2011. Dhak was shot to death in November 2012 at a Burnaby hotel. (Photo: PNG files)PNG FILES

‘Bury my brother’

Retired Vancouver Police gang expert Doug Spencer was one of the officers monitoring the funeral that day.

He remembers talking to devastated younger brother Sukh, who was already being urged to retaliate.

“Sukh says all his friends, ‘All they want me to do is kill the guys who killed Gurmit. All I want to do is bury my brother,’” recalled Spencer, who now does anti-gang workshops in schools for the Odd Squad.

Spencer said Gurmit Dhak was a different breed of gangster than some of the younger, more violent guys involved today.

“His attitude was make money, not war,” Spencer said. “He was old school. He was well-respected. He didn’t cross people. He just wanted to make money. He was an anomaly, really. None of them are like that now.”

The elder Dhak did business with all sides, including Hells Angels. Full-patch bikers wearing their death-head vests or “colours” attended his funeral.

Spencer said he first met the Dhak brothers when they were in elementary school in south Vancouver.

“They were normal kids. Nice kids. You would go up to talk to them and they were like, ‘Hi, officer.’ ”

Gurmit’s path changed when he was in high school. Lotus gang leader Raymond Chan approached him “right off the school grounds,” Spencer said.

“He basically pulled up in a red Porsche and said if you come and work for me, you can have one of these.”

Dhak bit. He was mentored by Chan, who himself was murdered in Richmond in May 2003.

‘I have got to worry’

Spencer said Dhak did stints in jail, where he made more criminal connections and enhanced his underworld reputation. The longest was a seven-year term for manslaughter after an associate in his vehicle shot and killed a 19-year-old outside a Vancouver nightclub in 1999.

“When Gurmit was in jail, he reached out to me and asked me to go talk to his little brother and get him away from the guys he was hanging out with,” Spencer said.

Years later, Spencer approached the elder Dhak about doing an anti-gang video for the Odd Squad to warn others about the perils of gang life. Dhak eventually agreed, making prophetic statements in the eerie video filmed months before his slaying.

“Every day I’ve got to look over my shoulder,” Dhak told Spencer. “I have got to worry — if I jump out of my car am I going to get shot? Or I could be walking in the mall and walking out and get shot. I don’t know.”

Almost eight years later, no one has been charged in Gurmit Dhak’s murder. Amero, the Hells Angel wounded in Kelowna, was arrested earlier this year and charged with conspiracy to kill Sukh Dhak and Sandip Duhre. Two Amero associates are charged with Duhre’s murder. All three remain in pre-trial custody.

Spencer thinks that Dhak would be devastated by all the blood shed in his name.

“I think he would say it wasn’t worth it. I think he would say now ‘what was I thinking?’ ” Spencer said. “He would be really upset about the fact that his brother went down. He tried to be a good big brother to him.”

Key events in the Dhak-Durhe-UN conflict with the Wolf Pack alliance

• Oct. 16, 2010: Popular underworld figure Gurmit Dhak is shot to death outside Burnaby’s Metrotown mall.

• Oct. 21, 2010: Two men linked to the Wolf Pack side, Arash (Monty) Younus and Philip Ley, shot at in their vehicle on Westminster Highway in Richmond.

• Oct. 27, 2010: After Dhak’s funeral, police covertly follow some mourners to Vancouver’s Kensington Park. Two of them — Christopher Iser and Mike Shirazi — are caught with loaded firearms and are arrested. Police said the group was plotted to kill Phil Ley.

• Dec. 12, 2010: Dhak associates shoot up a birthday party at Best Neighbours restaurant on Oak Street in Vancouver. Ten people are wounded, including Wolf Pack member Damion Ryan.

• Aug. 14, 2011: Gunmen linked to the Dhak group carry out a brazen shooting outside Kelowna’s Delta Grand Hotel that results in the murder of Jonathan Bacon and injuries to Larry Amero and two women in their vehicle. Gangster James Riach escapes injury. Bacon, Amero and Riach had joined forces in the Wolf Pack gang alliance.

• Sept. 7, 2011: Police issue a public warning that Wolf Pack associates are looking for revenge against Dhak-Duhre-UN opponents for the Kelowna shooting.

• Sept. 16, 2011: Dhak associate Jujhar Khun-Khun is shot outside a Surrey house that Sukh Dhak was visiting. He survives.

• Oct. 2, 2011: Dhak associate Billy Woo found dead on logging road near Squamish.

• Oct. 22, 2011: Dhak associate Stephen Leone, who was in Kelowna helping in the Bacon hunt two months earlier, is shot to death in Surrey.

• Jan. 16, 2012: Longtime Dhak associate and major underworld criminal Tom Gisby is targeted with an explosive device near Whistler. But the device fails to detonate.

• Jan. 17, 2012: Sandip (Dip) Duhre is executed in the lobby of Vancouver’s Sheraton Wall Centre.

• Jan. 19, 2012: Dhak associate Sean Beaver is shot to death in Surrey, second man wounded.

• April 28, 2012: B.C. gangster Gisby, 47, is shot to death while vacationing in Mexico.

• May 30, 2012: Duhre associate Gurbinder Singh (Bin) Toor, 35, is shot to death outside a Port Moody community centre.

• June 25, 2012: Independent Soldiers founder Randy Naicker gunned down in Port Moody.

• June 27, 2012: Wolf Pack-linked Phil Ley and Dean Wiwchar are charged with firearms offences after police investigating the Duhre murder search apartments linked to them.

• Nov. 26, 2012: Sukh Dhak and his bodyguard Thomas Mantel are shot and killed at the Executive Hotel in Burnaby.

• Jan. 13, 2013: Dhak associate Manjot Dhillon is shot to death in Surrey after posting anti-Wolf Pack images on his Facebook page.

• Jan. 15, 2013: Dhak associates Jujhar Khun-Khun and Manny Hairan are targeted in a Surrey shooting. Khun-Khun is critically wounded. Hairan, identified as one of the Kelowna shooters, dies.

• Feb. 25, 2013: Dhak associates Jujhar Khun-Khun, Jason McBride and Michael Jones are charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder in connection with the Kelowna shooting and Jonathan Bacon murder.

• March 18, 2013: Wolf Pack associate Rabih Alkhalil is charged with the murder of Sandip Duhre.

• Jan. 2, 2014: Red Scorpion Matthew Campbell is stabbed to death in Abbotsford after a run-in with rivals. An associate of Jujhar Khun-Khun is charged, but the charge is later stayed.

• Jan 2, 2015: Dhak associate Arundeep Cheema, 23, is shot to death in a vehicle outside the home of an associate.

• June 7, 2016: Wolf Pack gangster Sukh Deo, whose name surfaced in connection with the 2012 murder of Duhre pal Bin Toor, is shot to death in Toronto in a targeted hit.

• July 31, 2016: Former Dhak associate Sean Kelly, 27, is shot to death in Surrey.

• May 29, 2017: Kelowna murder trial of Jujhar Khun-Khun, Jason McBride and Michael Jones begins before Justice Allan Betton and goes on until October, when the proceedings adjourn to deal with a disclosure issue.

• Jan. 25, 2018: Hells Angel Larry Amero, wounded in the 2011 Kelowna shooting, is charged with conspiracy to kill gangster Sandip Duhre and Sukh Dhak in 2012. His Wolf Pack associate Dean Wiwchar is charged with murdering Duhre and plotting to kill Dhak.

• May 1, 2018: Dhak associates Jujhar Khun-Khun and Michael Jones plead guilty to conspiracy to kill Amero, Bacon and Riach in Kelowna in August 2011. Jason McBride pleads guilty to second-degree murder.

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