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richmondreview.com Wednesday, May 22, 2013
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‘Richmond a hot-bed for gang activity’ Ex-gangster says Touchstone Family’s program offers members a way out by Martin van den Hemel Staff Reporter
The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit is the integrated team of 400 officers and civilians from 14 different agencies, including RCMP and municipal police forces, that disrupt and suppress organized crime around the province.
Be
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B.C.’s anti-gang police unit is taking a step out of the shadows and into the spotlight. The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit is now out to capture a bigger public profile with the publication of its first-ever Community Report. The report can be read online at bc-anti-gang.com. See page 3 for more on the story. there are many sophisticated, well-established groups operating from Lulu Island. The shootings that often make the headlines, Javid said, involve for the most part low-level players. Meanwhile, the invisible bosses focus on one thing: money making. In fact, many local businesses are fronts for money-laundering operations, he said. You’ve probably seen those always-empty stores that somehow manage to remain around for years and years. Javid said some of those are money-laundering operations for organized crime and gangsters. He also questions those cashonly local businesses that seem to thrive despite an increasingly cashless society. See Page 3
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You wouldn’t be blamed for thinking if there’s no news about criminal gangs in Richmond, that’s probably good news. But ex-gangster Amir Javid said while what local gangs are doing doesn’t often make the front page of the papers, that’s not to say the activity is any less significant or destructive. In fact, he contends the tentacles of gang activity and organized crime can be found all over Richmond, and some of the most powerful players at the upper echelon actually call Richmond home. So why doesn’t Richmond see the same number of brazen daylight assassinations seen in other neighbouring communities such as Surrey? Javid explained that local gangsters are much more interested in remaining under the radar and raking in the profits than getting involved in public turf wars. “Richmond is a hotbed of gang activity.” From brothels to dial-a-dope operations to grow-ops, loansharking, money laundering and synthetic drug manufacturing,
Taking on gangs
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