When Vancouver police raided a Langley farm in November 2017 as part of a gang investigation, they found stolen cars, stacks of licence plates, bulletproof vests, gas canisters, black clothing with the Walmart tags still on and a dozen firearms.
In other words, everything necessary to carry out a hit.
鈥淭hese kill kits were all assembled and ready to go at this farm,鈥� Vancouver police Supt. Lisa Byrne said.
There were also two grenades, a silencer, an overcapacity magazine, balaclavas and latex gloves.
Police believe the blueberry farm, co-owned by a man linked to the Brothers Keepers gang, was being used as a staging ground by would-be hitmen.
No charges were laid in connection with the rural property on 240th Street. But owner Dave Sharma and other family members were taken to court last year by the sa国际传媒 government, which alleged the 17-acre farm was being used for criminal activity. After first denying the allegations in court documents, the Sharma family agreed to settle the claim in October by paying more than $200,000 to the director of civil forfeiture.
Byrne said last week that the investigation that led police to the farm also resulted in officers preventing some targeted shootings, just as they hope to do with the current gunplay that has left 20 people dead and 20 more injured so far this year.
The Brothers Keepers, the United Nations and the Red Scorpion-Kang group are just some of the sa国际传媒 gangs that have turned public spaces across the Lower Mainland into battlegrounds. There have been slayings at malls, outside popular restaurants, in busy parks, on the Vancouver waterfront and outside Vancouver airport鈥檚 international terminal.
Police throughout the region have ramped up enforcement in recent weeks in response to the escalation in violence. They say they are using both overt and covert measures to tackle the public shootings and put those responsible behind bars.
Last week, both the Vancouver Police Department and sa国际传媒鈥檚 Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit took the unusual step of releasing posters featuring gangsters they say could be targeted and warning the public to steer clear of them.
How are so many shooters able to orchestrate elaborate targeted killings in public spaces?
It鈥檚 because criminal organizations in sa国际传媒 have developed tried and true systems to advertise contracts for murder, secure hitmen, provide firearms and stolen vehicles, as well as the means to locate the targets, experts and sources say.
While some of the methods being used now might appear novel, most have been around for decades.
鈥淚 think in some ways, not a lot has changed since the early 鈥�90s,鈥� said Gary Bass, a retired RCMP deputy commissioner.
鈥淲e seem to go through spells of these shootings every few months or every couple of years. And generally, they鈥檙e very similar in nature, you know, mostly tied to the drug business with some other issues about personal conflicts. But I suppose some might say that some of the shootings have been a little more public than those in the past.鈥�
Mike Porteous, a retired Vancouver police superintendent, said it used to be 鈥渉arder and more expensive to do contract killings.鈥�
When Hells Angel Donald Roming was shot in a skirmish outside a downtown Vancouver bar 20 years ago, the hitman who hunted the suspects afterwards 鈥� killing one of them 鈥� was in a different league, Porteous said.
鈥淭hose kinds of hitmen were more in-house, more professional, probably much more sophisticated,鈥� said Porteous.
鈥淭here were less people doing that kind of thing. And they were more highly skilled and probably more expensive. Now there are a lot of the up and comers, unfortunately, that are at a tender age 鈥� and I鈥檓 talking like no older than 20 鈥� who are stepping into this world.鈥�
And, Porteous said, 鈥渢hey are willing to go out and kill people for like $5,000.鈥�
Some of the young gang killers are trying 鈥渢o gain notoriety or to gain credibility with more sophisticated gangsters,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here is a demand, I guess, to a certain extent if you鈥檙e a gangster.鈥�
鈥淏ut you get what you pay for right? Therefore you get a lot of these ones that are failed.鈥�
And sometimes, the rookie killers make mistakes that aid police investigations and land them in jail.
He pointed to the attempted murder of Hells Angel Damion Ryan at the airport food court in April 2015. Ryan was meeting with United Nations gangster Thomas Duong when a young hitman from Ontario, dressed in a burqa, approached and tried to shoot Ryan. The gun jammed and Ryan fled.
The inexperienced hitman, Knowah Ferguson, 18, was soon captured and pleaded guilty. He was supposed to get a share of a $200,000 bounty for killing the high-profile biker 鈥� who was featured on both police warning posters issued last week.
The contracts
There are no Craigslist postings for contract killers.
Higher level crime groups go through middlemen who find people to take contracts that can pay up to several hundred thousand dollars. Mid-level gangs often use drug trafficking connections to recruit for murders.
Cash is not the only method of payment 鈥� one source said younger 鈥渉itmen are paid in watches, chains, diamond-encrusted jewelry valued and appraised at $25,000, $50,000, $75,000 or $100 K.鈥�
Communication is only done using encrypted communication devices and phone apps that can鈥檛 be monitored.
Sometimes, young inmates in pre-trial jails without money or family support are groomed for future acts of violence by gangs.
Porteous said it鈥檚 very common for crime groups here 鈥渢o bring somebody in from back East and then fly them back out again. When they鈥檙e in town, they do the shooting and then they leave.鈥�
Out-of-province hitters are more challenging to identify 鈥渂ecause they鈥檙e not known to the members of the police community in this jurisdiction,鈥� Byrne said.
The firearms
After Brothers Keepers gangster Harb Dhaliwal was gunned down in Coal Harbour on April 17, a .45-calibre handgun with a stainless-steel silencer was dropped on the sidewalk beside his lifeless body.
The alleged out-of-town hitman, Fran莽ois Gauthier, 51, is now charged with first-degree murder and carrying a loaded prohibited firearm. He remains in custody until his next appearance on June 3.
More professional contract killers usually have all they need for the hit 鈥� including access to a firearm, Porteous said.
鈥淵ou wouldn鈥檛 have to supply him with things. You would hire him and he would get the whole deal done, just like you would hire a hitman on TV.鈥�
Those hiring younger killers have to kit them out.
鈥淭he farmhouses is a good example of a one-stop shop to get the kind of equipment you need,鈥� Porteous said.
Supt. Duncan Pound, of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said there has been a shift in where gangs are getting their firearms since the pandemic began.
Before the border was closed by the pandemic, about half the crime guns seized by police in sa国际传媒 were from the U.S., while the other half came mostly from straw purchasers, he said Friday.
Now, the majority are sourced within sa国际传媒 here on the West Coast, largely using the straw purchaser method.
鈥淭he gangs will try and focus in on someone who can get a valid PAL (firearms licence), that doesn鈥檛 have a criminal record. And they鈥檒l pay them cash for firearms,鈥� Pound said. 鈥淲hen we then follow up, we work with the chief firearms officer and we go and knock on the door. And as per the legislation, they鈥檝e got to have it in their house stored securely. Well, they don鈥檛 have them anymore. So they end up getting charged.鈥�
And he said, there鈥檚 鈥渮ero chance the gang members are going to come back and do a solid and say no, 鈥業鈥檒l take the charge for you.鈥欌��
Police are working with the stores that sell firearms to flag suspicious transactions, he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not normal to buy nine Glocks on a Sunday.鈥�
In January, a new provincial firearms lab opened 鈥� speeding up the process of analyzing crime guns.
鈥淲e鈥檝e prioritized anything involved in gang shootings,鈥� Pound said.
So far the lab has handled 800 exhibits 鈥� including both firearms and shell casings.
In several cases, the exhibits have been linked 鈥渢o more than one crime scene,鈥� he said.
Hunting the victim
Jaskeert Kalkat鈥檚 killers found him in a South Burnaby mall parking lot just minutes after the BK gangster arrived there with his girlfriend and a friend on May 13.
So how do the shooters know where to go?
Those hunting for targets conduct surveillance in several ways 鈥� they will have workers tasked with finding people on the hit list. The hunting crew will drive around following GPS trackers that have been placed on target vehicles they鈥檝e identified.
鈥淭hen they use free Wi-Fi hot zones to monitor the tracking and look for patterns,鈥� one source said.
Those patterns could show what time of the day someone like high-level UN gangster Todd Gouwenberg goes to the gym. Gouwenberg was fatally shot April 20 about 9 a.m. as he arrived to work out at the Langley Sportsplex.
Porteous said that, in addition to studying their target鈥檚 habits, hitmen also try to lure them to somewhere they鈥檙e vulnerable.
鈥淗ow do they get them to a location that鈥檚 agreeable to doing a contract killing? You just can鈥檛 pull out of mid-air where he is,鈥� Porteous said. 鈥淵ou get a lot of these things where they try to lure them somewhere, right?鈥�
They use mutual contacts willing to set the person up. They may even use a current or former girlfriend. Porteous said that happened in 2009, when some United Nations gangsters shot a rival outside a Surrey strip club after being tipped off by a stripper inside.
鈥淭his came up a lot at the height of the UN-RS conflict where they were looking for almost anybody in the group,鈥� he said.
In the current conflict, there are overlaps in the social circles of the gangs involved allowing plotters to get information from people they know who are close to those being hunted.
鈥淵ou need to understand that at one point in time these guys all used to be friends or knew each other or have people in each other鈥檚 groups that were on opposite sides. So they know how they operate and share similar methods of operation,鈥� the source said.
The getaway cars
The killer of United Nations gangster Karman Grewal arrived at YVR about 3 p.m. on May 9 in a maroon-coloured stolen Honda Pilot. And after the public shooting, the driver raced away with his hitman passenger, shooting at police like a movie scene.
Stolen cars and stolen licence plates like those found at the Sharma farm are the hallmarks of gang hits. Those behind the murder conspiracies find low-level dealers or even addicts to steal the vehicles for them. They sometimes purchase cars on Craigslist and put stolen plates on them, according to sources, some of whom are close to the groups involved.
Byrne, the VPD superintendent, said the killer and his associates may park stolen vehicles in several different neighbourhoods before a murder, then decide in the aftermath of the shooting which parked car to drive to.
鈥淚t is a common theme that we see in these gang murders, where a vehicle will be staged in an area. And that鈥檚 why I asked for the public鈥檚 help 鈥� if you see a suspicious vehicle in your area, and it might have gas canisters in it, call us,鈥� she said recently. 鈥淥ften they鈥檒l lay down multiple vehicles like that in various neighbourhoods, where they will go to after committing a homicide.鈥�
Where they park the stolen cars 鈥渋s dependent on who is the target and the date, the time where they鈥檙e going to be. So that is kind of their escape route, for lack of a better word,鈥� Byrne said. 鈥淚 think targeting someone to murder them is a very fluid operation. And they鈥檙e going to make a whole bunch of contingency plans.鈥�
ICBC spokesperson Lindsay Wilkins told Postmedia that the corporation does not keep separate data on stolen vehicles that may have been used in gang crime.
The fire
Like lightning and thunder, a gangland murder seems to be quickly followed by a burning vehicle 鈥� usually in a neighbouring city.
Social media videos are posted almost immediately showing the fires and making it seem like a recent hitman trend. But Bass said criminals have been burning their getaway cars for decades, and not just in murders.
When Red Scorpion Jon Bacon was gunned down outside a Kelowna resort in 2011, his killers escaped in a Ford Explorer that they later set ablaze. Despite the condition of the SUV, forensic analysts extracted evidence to be used at trial, until three accused from the UN gang pleaded guilty to their roles in the hit in 2018.
Porteous said the contract killers burn the cars to destroy evidence, but also because that鈥檚 what they think they鈥檙e supposed to do.
鈥淲ithout giving away the royal jewels here, we can always gather forensic evidence,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e still kids, right? They hear from other guys 鈥榦h yeah, torch the car.鈥� 鈥�
The response
Increased street-level enforcement has already led to a number of arrests in the past two weeks. The VPD鈥檚 Byrne said that officers may have interrupted a potential hit in south Vancouver on May 12.
She said some people in a stolen vehicle were 鈥渆xhibiting suspicious behaviour.鈥� Two people were arrested, including a young offender. 鈥淭here was 鈥� gas canisters found inside and one of the individuals had a loaded firearm.鈥� Charges are expected.
On May 18 at 3 a.m., North Vancouver RCMP seized 鈥渁 large amount of cash, two bags of what appeared to be illicit pills, and a knife鈥� from gang associates who stopped at a impaired driving roadblock.
And Metro Vancouver Transit Police arrested Luis Baez, linked to the Brothers Keepers, after allegedly finding him with a loaded firearm at Metrotown mall about 3:40 p.m. on Tuesday.
As disturbing as the spate of murders and shootings has been, both Porteous and Bass say they expect there will be more charges soon.
Police likely have 鈥渁 huge number of confidential sources within the organizations and are doing all the other advanced investigative techniques,鈥� Bass said. 鈥淚 think the police probably have a pretty good handle on what鈥檚 going on.鈥�
Some of the murders have been almost 鈥渧ideo game-ish,鈥� Porteous said. 鈥淒own the road, we鈥檙e going to be seeing people giving press conferences saying these guys are charged.鈥�