Quang Vinh Le Red Scorpion Leader has been arrested in the Philippines in connection with the slaying of six men in a Surrey B.C. highrise in October

Founder of the Red Scorpion gang has been arrested in the Philippines in connection with the slaying of six men in a Surrey B.C. highrise in October 2007.Quang Vinh (Michael) Le, 24, was arrested as he landed in Manila Wednesday on a flight from Vietnam and is to be charged with conspiracy to commit the murder of Corey Lal and first-degree murder in Lal's execution-style slaying.Supt. John Robin, of B.C.'s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, said his team uncovered enough evidence against Le to present it to the Crown in the Surrey Six case.``There was a Canada-wide warrant that was issued for Le,'' Robin said. ``We enlisted the assistance of the Filipino authorities and they aided in arresting him.''The counts are identical to those laid in April against fellow Red Scorpion Jamie Bacon, 23.Two other Scorpions - Cody Haevischer and Matt Johnston - have also been charged with conspiring to kill Lal, as well as with the first-degree murders of Lal and five others gunned down in B.C.'s worst gangland slaying.Lal, his brother Michael, Eddie Narong and Ryan Bartolomeo, all young drug dealers, along with two bystanders - fireplace repairman Ed Schellenberg and student Chris Mohan - were shot to death in a penthouse suite in a Surrey apartment 19 months ago.Robin noted that IHIT had promised more arrests in the unprecedented gangland slaughter.``We said we would be making other arrests. This is one of those arrests,'' Robin said. ``Evidence was uncovered that was presented for review to Crown counsel and charges were approved.''An official with the Philippines National Bureau of Investigation said the agency's Interpol representative James Calleja made the arrest.Le is expected to appear in court Thursday before Canada begins proceedings to have him extradited.A Canadian citizen, Le is believed to have left Canada in the spring of 2008. He has a business in Vietnam and also spent time recently in the U.S.Le has a long history with police.Both he and Surrey Six victim Eddie Narong were convicted of manslaughter for their role in a fatal beating in 2000.Narong was only 14 when he took part in the attack on Richard Jung, who was bludgeoned to death in the Hi-Max Karaoke club in Coquitlam, B.C.The death occurred after Le, then a friend of Narong's, was beaten by a group of Korean youths.To retaliate, Le called in more than 20 friends to help him in the assault that led to Jung's death.Le was originally convicted of second-degree murder in the death, but won a new trial on appeal, then pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Narong, who testified against some of his co-accused, also pleaded guilty to manslaughter.Le and Narong had a falling out after Narong testified.Some of those convicted went on to form the Red Scorpions while in jail. The gang members sported scorpion tattoos and were involved in drug trafficking in Coquitlam and other Lower Mainland suburbs.

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Cody Haevischer, a member of the Red Scorpions gang, was charged Saturday in B.C.'s worst gang slaying

Cody Haevischer, a member of the Red Scorpions gang, was charged Saturday in B.C.'s worst gang slaying.Haevischer appeared in court for two minutes Monday amid tight security, as prosecutor Wendy Dawson told provincial court Judge Harvey Field the Crown intends to proceed by direct indictment, meaning the murder case will bypass a preliminary hearing and go straight to B.C. Supreme Court.
Nanaimo RCMP say Haevischer is known to regularly visit the city to see family or party but prior to his arrest, according to Cpl. Dale Carr of the Integrated Homicide Investigative Team, Haevischer did not live in Nanaimo.Police have monitored his whereabouts when he is in the city.He charged with executing Ryan Bartolomeo, Eddie Narong and Corey and Michael Lal -- along with Chris Mohan and Ed Schellenberg, who happened to be in the apartment building the night of the murders.Jamie Bacon, 23, and Matt Johnston, 24, are also charged with murder in the so-called 'Surrey Six' slaughter.
Haevischer is not allowed to contact either of his co-accused, Dawson told the court.Bacon and Johnston are scheduled to appear in court Tuesday under equally tight security.On Friday, Dennis Karbovanec, who also has ties to the Red Scorpion gang, pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree murder in the case.Karbovanec, 27, will appear in court to be sentenced Thursday after his surprise plea.

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Red Scorpion Dennis Karbovanec has pleaded guilty to three counts of secondt-degree murder in connection with the Surrey Six massacre

Red Scorpion gangbanger Dennis Karbovanec has pleaded guilty to three counts of secondt-degree murder in connection with the Surrey Six massacre on Oct. 19, 2007. Karbovanec pleaded guilty in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver Friday to the killings, as well as one count of conspiracy to commit murder. Three others were also to be charged, including Jamie Bacon, 23, Matt Johnson and Cody Haevischer and were being arrested by Emergency Response Teams.
All are linked to the Red Scorpion gang. Steve Brown, the brother-in-law of one man killed in the slaughter at the Balmoral Tower apartment 18 months ago -- said he was relieved at the charges.
Brown's friend and relative Ed Schellenberg was an innocent passerby on the 15th floor of the building fixing the gas fireplace when the killers arrived."I think credit has to go to the IHIT detectives. I know they have had two teams of detectives working full-time and all the credit goes to the police," Brown said. "We need to get justice for Ed so that his wife Lois and his two adult kids can have closure."A second innocent killed was Chris Mohan, a 22-year-old who lived across the hall from the death penthouse and was on his way to a basketball game when the killers arrived.
His mother Eileen has been a tireless crusader against gang violence ever since.

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Bacon brothers , the Red Scorpion gang associates shot dead in Gangland Slayings

Abbotsford Police Const. Casey Vinet said both victims were men in their 20s, but would not say if they were known to police, given that positive identifications had not yet been made.
Gang contacts have said that both were front-line workers in the drug trade and associates of the notorious Bacon brothers and the Red Scorpion gang.Homicide investigators were looking for possible connections Tuesday between the targeted slayings of two young men less than nine hours apart.The two murders came after a lull in the gang violence that has rocked Metro Vancouver this year, leaving 28 dead and more than a dozen others wounded.Police have said there is an all-out gang war as rivals battle over turf and long-standing disputes.Supt. Dan Malo, who heads the Integrated Gang Task Force, said most of the victims are mid-level drug dealers or those running dial-a-dope lines. Some are killed by rivals, but others are shot by their own crews because of internal disputes or debts.
“That’s where we are seeing all of the violence right now,” Malo said. “It’s a continuation of the spike we’ve been seeing of late and we’ve still got to get around the corner.”
The first victim was found slumped over the steering wheel of a gold-coloured import car at the entrance to Bateman Park about 10:45 p.m. Monday, shot to death in a targeted hit.The second man remained under a yellow police tarp most of Tuesday beside the popular Yellow Barn produce store just off the Trans-Canada Highway on Sumas Prairie near the Abbotsford-Chilliwack boundary.Vinet said the second victim displayed some “injury” but could not say what the cause of death was until an autopsy has been completed.
The body lay in a field just off the parking lot and appeared to have been dumped there, something investigators were considering, Vinet said.He said police were called about 7 a.m. by a motorist who saw the body lying a few metres from the store’s propane tank.
Workers at the barn said they arrived about 7:30 a.m. to find the whole west side of the parking lot behind yellow police tape.Vinet said there were no overnight reports of gunshots in the area of farms and produce stands, sandwiched between mountains.But there was a shots-fired call just before 1 a.m. in the 6000-block of Riverside Street.One shot hit a house. No one was injured in that shooting and police did not believe it was connected to the two deaths, Vinet said.He said he could not remember another time when Abbotsford police were called to two separate murders in such a short time span.“It is unusual. It is concerning,” he said. “There are still a lot of details we don’t know. There’s still a lot of work to be done.”Abbotsford had seen a lull in gang violence in recent weeks following its high-profile campaign to monitor the movements of the two youngest Bacon brothers — Jamie and Jarrod — who are both marked for death by rivals. Both are out on bail on a series of gun and drug charges.Their Red Scorpion gang has been engaged in a bloody turf war with the rival United Nations gang.Abbotsford Mayor George Peary said he had just been chatting with Police Chief Bob Rich about how the shootings seemed to have died down.“And then two homicides in one night,” Peary said Tuesday. “Sadly of course, no community is safe and no community can escape this violence.”He said two murders so close together were unusual for Abbotsford.
“It’s troubling and it’s symptomatic of the violence we have had across the Lower Mainland in recent months,” Peary said.He said he was confident the region’s integrated policing teams have a great deal of intelligence on the gangs and those doing the killing.“But it is really difficult for them to prevent this kind of stuff,” he said. “There are far too many guns available.”
If there is any good news out of the latest tragedy, it is that the slayings were in semi-rural locations and did not endanger the general public, Peary said.“There was less likelihood of an innocent bystander getting caught in the cross-fire.”In Vancouver meanwhile, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass said Tuesday more arrests and major charges are pending against Metro gang members.“You’re going to see more arrests in the coming weeks, significant arrests,” Bass said during a meeting with The Vancouver Sun editorial board to discuss gangs and organized crime.

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Kevin LeClair two gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons, shattering the driver's side window and leaving LeClair critically wounded

Kevin LeClair was gunned down in his truck in Langley, he was stopped by police in the same vehicle in Port Moody in the company of Jonathan Bacon.Bacon and LeClair, who died Sunday, were seen driving away from Bacon's apartment in the 600-block of Nootka Way, heading for popular Newport Village when they were pulled over. They told police they were on their way to the shopping area to get a coffee, apparently nonchalant about the threats facing them."On Thursday, Feb. 5, members of the Port Moody Police Department were in the area of Jonathan Bacon's residence," Insp. Andy Richards confirmed Sunday. "At approximately 12:15 p.m., Bacon was seen exiting his residence and getting into Kevin LeClair's late model Lincoln pickup truck.
The two were stopped and checked by PMPD members a short distance away and they advised they were heading to Starbucks. They were in the same vehicle in which LeClair was murdered the next day in Langley."Just two days before the LeClair-Bacon sighting, Port Moody Police issued an extraordinary public warning that Bacon -- the eldest of three gangster brothers targeted for death -- had moved to town and residents should be aware.It was the third police warning in Metro Vancouver since last May, when the B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force said the public could be at risk because of the serious nature of the threats against the Bacon brothers and friends, who are linked to the Red Scorpion gang.LeClair, a 26-year-old Surrey resident, pulled into the Thunderbird Mall parking lot just after 4 p.m. Friday. Some witnesses said he was being chased by another vehicle. Right in front of a crowded IGA Marketplace, two gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons, shattering the driver's side window and leaving LeClair critically wounded.RCMP Cpl. Dale Carr said Sunday that the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is now in charge of the LeClair probe and is appealing to the public for information."Police have learned that two suspects were seen fleeing the area. They were last seen heading north through the parking lot of the shopping centre toward Colossus Theatre," Carr said. "It is believed that the suspects entered a vehicle to leave the area, and in doing so left the area in an erratic manner thereby drawing attention to themselves."

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Red Scorpion Jonathan Bacon delivered 114 sticks of stolen dynamite, a grenade, seven handguns, two shotguns, a rifle and an Uzi submachinegun

Gangster Jonathan Bacon delivered 114 sticks of stolen dynamite, a grenade, seven handguns, two shotguns, a rifle and an Uzi submachinegun to police as part of a plea bargain for an associate, according to court documents obtained by The Vancouver Sun.
The eldest of the trio of brothers linked to the Red Scorpion gang, Bacon brought the arsenal to Abbotsford Det. Lyle Simpson in February 2007 after the deal was negotiated by a lawyer for Bacon associate Dennis Karbovanec and a Crown prosecutor, the documents say.Details of the plea bargain are contained in court documents related to new charges against Karbovanec, 27. He faces 11 gun charges after being stopped by Abbotsford police last October, wearing a bullet-proof vest and allegedly hiding a loaded 9-mm Luger and silencer in a secret compartment in his leased GMC Yukon.The 2007 plea bargain resulted in a conviction for possession of a prohibited weapon and ammunition and a lifetime firearms ban. Documents available Monday did not disclose the charges that led to the deal.The surrender of the firearms and explosives was arranged in phone calls between Simpson and Jamie Bacon, the youngest of three brothers, who survived a brazen murder attempt at a busy Abbotsford intersection last week.Jamie, 23, is facing his own series of gun and drug charges laid last May as police issued an extraordinary public warning about death threats to the brothers and their associates.Karbovanec was also recently targeted in a shooting, arriving at Mission Memorial Hospital Dec. 31 with two bullet wounds and wearing a bullet-proof vest. He was treated and left, refusing to cooperate with police.Simpson said in the warrant application that when Karbovanec was arrested three months ago, he tried to give his vehicle to two associates who arrived at the scene, but it was towed to Abbotsford police headquarters.A police search uncovered a balaclava, gloves and a police scanner as well as the gun and silencer.
Police were assisted by Paul Vogt, of the Canada Border Services Agency, an expert in vehicle concealment, who helped find the hidden compartment, Simpson said."Vogt described this compartment as one of the most sophisticated he had seen in 16 years of experience in the field," the document said.The next day, investigators arranged to have the Yukon towed to the RCMP's secure lot in Surrey, as two plainclothes officers followed.A black Mercedes leased to Jonathan Bacon followed the tow truck, the search warrant document says."The tow truck stopped at a red light, while the Mercedes drove along the right shoulder of the roadway and came to a position parallel to the GMC Yukon. The Mercedes then stopped and the driver exited, approached the front passenger door of the GMC and extended his hand in a motion to open the door," Simpson said in his application. "Both officers drew their weapons and ordered the male away from the GMC. At this time, the male re-entered the Mercedes and drove off."Simpson said the two officers were not sure if the male was Jonathan or middle brother Jarrod, who is also facing gun charges and out on bail

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Philbert Truong was gunned down outside the Red Jacket nightclub

The two young men charged in last month's shooting death of Victoria student Philbert Truong were among the 11 suspected associates of the violent Red Scorpion gang identified by Victoria police during a recent drug sting, sources close to the investigation said yesterday.Dubbed Operation Mongoose, the initiative kicked into gear on July 22, three days after Mr. Truong was gunned down outside a View Street nightclub.On Tuesday, police said they had seven of the 11 alleged Red Scorpion affiliates in custody. They later acknowledged that only five of the people arrested in the sting have been linked to the gang.On condition of anonymity, sources close to the investigation acknowledged that the other two who are "believed to have some affiliation with the Red Scorpion gang" are the suspects in Mr. Truong's death. They were taken into custody minutes after the shooting. Victoria police Constable Colin Brown refused comment Tuesday when asked about possible links between Mr. Truong's murder and the wave of drug arrests.Yesterday, Victoria police Sergeant Grant Hamilton called the murder investigation "completely separate" from Operation Mongoose."It's before the courts, and it would be inappropriate to speculate on any association between these arrests and the incident on View Street," Sgt. Hamilton said.He declined to specify which suspects are believed to be Red Scorpion affiliates, noting that police departments can be sued for incorrectly identifying someone as a gang member.Mr. Truong was gunned down in the early morning hours of July 19 as he and a group of friends were leaving the Red Jacket nightclub.
Two other young men believed to be friends of Mr. Truong were wounded in the attack.
Somphavanh Chanthabouala, 22, of Surrey and a 16-year-old who can't be named are facing charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder in connection with the shooting.The seven people facing drug possession or trafficking charges, or both, as a result of Operation Mongoose are: Mark Hubahib, Kurtis Schmidt, John Supena, Ashley Appolinario, Raphael Jose Blanco, Hisham Bennink and Justin Houchen. The suspects range in age from 18 to 23. Mr. Houchen was convicted of selling crack cocaine outside Victoria City Hall in July and sent back to the Lower Mainland. He is a under court order to stay away from Victoria.Victoria police said on Tuesday that Red Scorpion affiliates began aggressively targeting the local drug trade this spring.
Red Scorpion district "managers" had equipped junior drug runners with vehicles and cell phones as part of a dial-a-dope drug-dealing business, similar to Red Scorpion operations on the Lower Mainland, police said.
The Red Scorpion gang formed in 2000 inside a youth detention centre. Upon their release, the group of Asian males began a "dial-a-dope" operation in the Coquitlam area. In 2006, RCMP officers arrested several Red Scorpions and charged them with drug trafficking.
The investigation, titled Project E-Poison, produced 10 guilty pleas.
"That was the project that was thought to have really brought about the demise of the early manifestation of the Red Scorpions," said Sergeant Shinder Kirk of the Lower Mainland's Integrated Gang Task Force. "But again, given the drug situation not only within the Lower Mainland but the province and certainly nationally, we had a coalescing of people under that name and off they went again. That speaks to the draw of the drug trade."
Police don't know how many members the Red Scorpion gang has, or how far the gang's reach is.Sgt. Kirk said the "franchising" model used by the Red Scorpions to bully their way onto the Victoria drug scene is nothing new to the B.C. drug trade.
"We've seen it in organized crime," Sgt. Kirk said. "They may have an individual who has ties there that's already part of the group, or there's somebody already in the community who's engaged in the drug trade who sees an opportunity to now connect with someone who has the capacity to import or move larger shipments. We have a two-way street."

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