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Thursday September 22, 2011 Serving Surrey and North Delta www.surreyleader.com
Police warn of violence as gang tensions rise
Misery continues at Ted Kuhn Towers Mayor wants bedbug problem ‘rectified immediately’
Family, friends of Dhak and Duhre groups ‘are in danger’ by Jeff Nagel
by Kevin Diakiw
POLICE ARE issuing an unusual warning that members of the Dhak and Duhre gangs are being targeted by rival gangsters and anyone close to them could be caught in the crossfire. “There’s a lot of tensions between the gangs right now,” Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU) Supt. Tom McCluskie said Tuesday. “If you are associating, if you’re hanging around or if you’re family or even friends of the Dhaks or the Duhres, you are in danger.” The warning was issued after a shooting in Surrey Friday night critically injured Jujhar Singh Khun-Khun, a member of the Dhak group that’s believed to be allied with the Duhres and United Nations against other groups, including the Hells Angels. “The shooting Friday night took place on a city street where any member of the public could have easily been caught in the crossfire,” McCluskie said. CFSEU Sgt. Bill Whalen said investigators believe it’s “quite possible” but not certain that Tom McCluskie the Surrey shooting is linked to the Kelowna shooting last month that killed Jonathan Bacon and wounded two other people, including a prominent Hells Angel. There are now more than 80 officers working on a special task force investigating the Kelowna and Surrey shootings, as well as generally elevated gang tensions in the Lower Mainland. McCluskie said officers have also given specific individual warnings of the danger to several members or people associated with the targeted crime groups. It’s the first time in at least two years police have issued a specific warning that gang violence could be imminent in the Lower Mainland. McCluskie said members of the public aren’t specifically targeted, but noted more attacks could happen anywhere. “These guys don’t care where it is. They have no regard whatsoever for the safety of the public.”
EVAN SEAL / THE LEADER
The low-income tenants of Ted Kuhn Towers in Whalley – a building operated by B.C. Housing – have been suffering with a bedbug infestation for years.
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IT WAS 1989, when John Sanford, an aerial fire boss, was fighting a fire by helicopter near Lac La Biche, Alta. about 130 kilometers east of Edmonton. The chopper went down, crashing in the remote area, leaving Sanford with crushed bones throughout one side of his body. He was also left with the emotional and physical trauma that comes with such accidents Bedbug and remains infestation is on on disability the rise across income. Now unem- North America, and is not limited ployed and to low-income living in Ted Kuhn Towers, accommodation. at 102 Avenue and Old Yale Road, Sanford has a much more immediate emergency to deal with: Bedbugs. The bloodsucking parasites have infested the building for more than three years. They come out at night and feast on Sanford’s body as he sleeps. See HOUSING MINISTRY / Page 5
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