United Nations (gang)

The United Nations (UN), also known as Global United Nations Syndicate (GUNS), Canada United or Canadian United (CU), is a criminal gang which started in the Vancouver, British Columbia area and more recently grew to the rest of the Canadian territory in the 2000s.

Name and Identification[]

The name, United Nations (UN), alludes to the various ethnic origins of the members. The gang consists primarily of Canadians of European, East Asian, First Nations, and Iranian background.^[1][2][3]

The U.N. gang pioneered an alternative sense of style and recognition that became prominent in Vancouver, BC up until the end of the early 2010s. Many U.N. members would "cloak" themselves by wearing high-end, expensive, and luxury brands based on California surf-trends, biker brands, and accessories that would not typically be assumed as what a gangster would wear. Many youth imitated this style before the end of around 2012. Common items included murses, high-end active wear, designer jeans, baseball caps, sandals and name brand belts. This has become a well known sense of gangster appearance in BC due to the United Nations.^[4][5]

History[]

Formation[]

The UN gang was formed in Abbotsford in 1997 by a group of high-school friends from around the Fraser Valley. The founder of the gang was Clay Roueche, a White Canadian who grew up surrounded by Vietnamese-Canadians and Lao-Canadians.^[6] Roueche came to develop an Asian fetish as he was described as spending much of his time in Abbotsford's Vietnamtown where he loved: "...the fortunetellers he’d find there, grainy bootlegged kung-fu movies and Vietnamese girls".^[6] A Korean-Canadian said of him: "Clay was never White. Maybe he was born White, but his soul was never White."^[6] After graduating from high school in 1993, Rouche worked in a variety of sales jobs and opened a restaurant which soon failed.^[7]

James Coulter, the best friend of Rouche recalled: "It started slowly. I started using E-ecstasy-just to stay awake and stay balanced because when you take ecstasy and you drink, it sort of counterbalances, you don't get high from ecstasy and you don't get drunk from drinking. But as soon as the ecstasy wears off, you are super, super drunk. Then I just started using crack, just for an extra high. Maybe it was take the stress away, I don't know."^[8] Coulter and Rouche started selling drugs to pay for their drug habits.^[8]

Rouche began to work for a Vietnamese organized crime figure known as Vu.^[6] What began as a loose-knit group of Abbotsford thugs linked to Asian organized crime grew quickly over the years. They began a profitable drug-running enterprise involving helicopters flying across the US-Canada border trading much sought after British Columbian cannabis for cocaine to be sold in Canada.^[9] The United Nations gang was founded in May 1997.^[10] Rouche discovered that the Kootenays region was where most of the marijuana in British Columbia was grown and starting in 1997 began to export marijuana to the United States.^[6] The B.C Bud strain of marijuana is very popular in the United States, becoming the United Nations gang's principle source of revenue.^[11] With his new wealth, Rouche married a Lao-Canadian woman and purchased an expensive house.^[6] The name United Nations was coined at a party hosted by Rouche in Richmond when somebody commented upon the racially diverse crowd by saying: "What the fuck is this, an United Nations meeting?"^[6]

Growth[]

The dominant organized crime group in British Columbia as in much of the rest of Canada are the Hells Angels, who only accept Whites, and as such the United Nations gang attracted non-White members, usually second-generation Vietnamese-Canadians and Lao-Canadians.^[6] In 2000, the United Nations gang were involved in a notably bloody brawl with the Hells Angels at the Animals nightclub in Abbotsford, which gave the gang stature in the underworld after beating up the Angels.^[12] A group of Hells Angels supporters wearing "Support 81" T-shirt arrived and began to bully the Asian patrons of the club, several of whom were members of the UN gang.^[13] Coulter recalled: "I remember back in the day, everyone and their dog used to be afraid of anyone who had a Hells Angels support shirt, and you would tread lightly, you would tiptoe around these people, and we were just a bunch of kids and thought, you don't have to be afraid of these people. Right? You don't want to be bullied around. Numbers rule. We had a lot of numbers".^[13] As the Hells Angels supporters left following a call to the police, they warned the UN members that they were "dead" as they promised to return to the Animals nightclub the next weekend.^[13]

The next weekend, the Hells Angels supporters together with a number of actual Hells Angels arrived at the Animals nightclub.^[13] Coulter remembered: "I'll never forget. There was the big fight inside. It lasted maybe five minutes. Then everyone started running outside. I remember I came out the front doors and there were probably about five or six different fights happening out on the street and I seen an Abbotsford police officer pull up and he gets out of his car and he's on his walkie-talkie and he's like, 'There's H.A! There are fights everywhere!" It as like he had never seen anything like this before. Nor had I. That was one of the bigger fights I had ever been in".^[13] A group of 70 United Nations members fought and expelled 30 Hells Angels from the Animals nightclub, which was perceived as "theirs".^[14]

Rouche borrowed much from Asian culture for his gang. Rouche took aspects of Bushido ("the way of the warrior"), the fierce code of the Japanese samurai, as the basis of the gang's philosophy, using the motto "Honor, loyalty, respect".^[6] All the members of the gang are expected to have the phrase "honor, loyalty, respect" tattooed on themselves in Chinese characters and their uniform were hoodies covered with images of tigers and Asian dragons together with the phrase "honor, loyalty, respect" in Chinese characters .^[10] Members were expected to learn mixed martial arts, especially Thai kickboxing and Japanese jujitsu.^[10] Initiation ceremonies were based on those of the Chinese Triads under which new members would walk under "The Mountain of Knives" as an archway of swords were named to swear eternal loyalty to the "36 Oaths" of the gang and drinking a bowl of rooster's blood.^[6] A senior member was a dai lo (Cantonese for "big brother") who would supervise the other members who were given much freedom to operate as they pleased.^[6] The gang initially avoided the rigidly hierarchical and authoritarian structure of traditional organized crime groups like the Mafia and outlaw biker clubs such as the Hells Angels.^[6]

Under the impact of gang wars, greater discipline was needed and Rouche admitted in an interview that he ordered the beatings and the torture of gang members who disobeyed his orders, through he also claimed not to enjoy it.^[6] As a new criminal organization, the group fought a number of turf wars against other gangs, most notably the Red Scorpions. They also led a turf war against the Independent Soldiers gang, as it sought to establish itself.^[15] After establishing themselves against the Hells Angels, the two gangs reached a modus vivendi in 2005.^[16] One of its biggest rivals was the Hells Angels but recently the two groups have been working together as some of the UN's high-ranking members became Hells Angels and also shown by the arrest of Omid Bayani, a mid-level member of the Hells Angels, who was arrested as part of an investigation looking at criminal actions of the Hells Angels.^[17] After Rouche's arrest in the United States in 2008, leadership was assumed by Barzan Tilli-Choli.^[18]

Typical of the gang's members was Omid Bayani, who was born in Iran as a member of the Baha'i faith.^[11] The Baha'i face savage persecution by the government of Iran, which views them as apostates from Islam.^[11] Bayani's father was killed in Iran, causing the family to flee via Turkey to Canada, where Bayani arrived in at the age of 16.^[11] After arriving in Canada, Bayani grew up in Red Deer, Alberta.^[11] Through the Baha'i are pacifists who are opposed to violence even in self-defense, Bayani turned to robbing convenience stores for cigarettes and cash.^[11] An unhappy ex-girlfriend reported him to the police, leading to Bayni being arrested, convicted, and sentenced to five years in prison.^[19] His lawyer argued that his crimes were due to his troubled youth, but the judge felt the violence of his robberies warranted five years in prison.^[19] Bayani was known to be a violent prisoner at the medium security Bowden Institution who attacked other prisoners with a club that had the words "goof beater" written on it.^[20] Bayani was transferred to the maximum Kent Institution in Abbotsford, where a report declared about him: "While incarcerated he has on a number of occasions tried to provoke staff members into fights with him. It was noted that Bayani's actions during one of his offences caused a female victim to suffer serious psychological trauma. It appears that Bayani does not have a full understanding of this".^[20]

Through Bayani was ordered deported to Iran upon his release, he instead joined the United Nations gang.^[20] Bayani was part of Canada-wide drug smuggling network, selling 600 pounds of GHB, the so-called "date rape" drug, to a fellow Iranian, Mehrdad "Juicy" Bahman, of the Hell Angels downtown Toronto chapter, to sell in the greater Toronto area.^[21] The informer Steven Gault, who served as the treasurer of the Angels' Oshawa chapter told the police about the business relationship between Bahman and Bayani, leading to the police to seize the GHB that Bahman had stored in his garage.^[21] The seizure put Bahman into a $100, 000 debt to the UN gang and the Haney chapter of the Hell Angels, forcing other members of the Toronto chapter to step in to help pay off the debt that he could not manage on his own.^[22] The information provided by Gault led to the arrest of Bayani in 2007.^[21] Upon his arrest in Abbotsford on 4 April 2007, Bayani was found to be with a "full patch" Hells Angel, Vincenzo Sansalone, of the Haney chapter in his car.^[20] The police found in Bayani's car a loaded .38 hangun, a hunting knife, part of the leg of a wooden chair to use as a club, a machete, and 600 liters of GHB.^[20] Inspector Gary Shinkaruk of the RCMP stated: "Mr. Bayani, although he is an UN gang member, was known to work and associate criminally with other gangs. The fact that he is charged jointly with a member of the Hells Angels is not a surprise to us and it is really indicative of the networking and the relationships that now exist in the Lower Mainland and throughout Canada where these criminal organizations are working cooperatively with each other".^[23] Bayani together with Sansalone were convicted of trafficking in GHB in July 2011.^[24] Bayani disappeared in September 2011 and has not been seen since.^[24] On 20 December 2011, Bayani was sentenced in absentia to seven years in prison.^[24] Bayani is believed to have fled Canada for Mexico.^[22]

The journalist Jerry Langton wrote that the United Nations gang "which had actually been incorporated in opposition to the Hells Angels-were now working for them".^[25] The United Nations gang soon into conflict with the Independent Soldiers gang.^[11] The conflict with the Independent Soldiers led to the alliance with the Hells Angels.^[11] The professional wrestler Ion Croitoru tried to join the Hells Angels' Vancouver chapter, and was instead directed to join the United Nations gang instead.^[26]

Relationship with the Hells Angels[]

On May 8, 2008, former Hells Angels head hunter and UN gang member Duane Harvey Meyer, 41, and nicknamed D.W., was killed, with the funeral held on May 15, 2008. Full members of the Hells Angels and UN gang members were at the funeral, with news stations and police agencies on hand to videotape all visitors. Whenever a United Nations member dies, he gets a special tombstone featuring the letters "UN" across it.^[27]

Arrests[]

Before a number of its leaders were arrested, the police estimated the gang had 50-100 core members in the Lower Mainland area of BC. The alleged leader of the United Nations Gang is Clayton Roueche.^[3] Roueche grew up in Chilliwack, BC. He later moved out to Abbotsford, BC and then on to Vancouver. Roueche had an obsession with martial arts and became involved in the drug scene at an early age.

As part of an American investigation into drug trafficking on a stopover in Texas on a flight from Mexico City on May 17, 2008, Roueche was arrested for conspiring to possess cocaine, conspiring to export cocaine, conspiring to import marijuana, and conspiring to launder money and was subsequently deported to the United States. Roueche faced up to a maximum of 220 years in prison, but he was sentenced to 30 years and $8 million in fines. He was flown to Seattle to answer to the charges.^[28] Other members arrested as part of the international investigation were UN members Kris Neri, Daryl Johnson, and Douglas Vanalstine.^[9]

Jong Ca John Lee is believed to have supplied the gang with guns. On June 9, 2007, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) was called to his residence due to an unanswered 911 call. Lee answered the door, and the police saw what looked like firearms inside the apartment. A subsequent search revealed a dozen guns (some loaded, and some with defaced serial numbers), including automatic and semi-automatic rifles, and almost two dozen magazines of ammunition. Lee, who had no criminal record, pleaded guilty in September 2007 to all 10 charges. Lee also pleaded guilty to possession of 3.5 kilograms of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking, 900 grams of marijuana, a Panther stun gun, a silencer, and three stolen Canadian passports obtained through a home invasion. He was sentenced to five years each on two of the weapons charges and two years on each of the other charges, to be served concurrently.

The former de facto leader of the United Nations gang was Barzan Tilli-Choli, an Iraqi immigrant responsible for a myriad of crimes, none more infamous than his conspiracy to murder the notorious Bacon brothers (the Bacon brothers are believed to be high-ranking members of the rival Red Scorpions Gang). Tilli-Choli's elaborate plot to murder the Bacon brothers manifested in his arrest in April 2009, along with Dilun Hung, Aram Ali, Ion Croitoru, Daniel Russell, and realtor Soroush Ansari.^[29]

2004 saw the arrest at a Calgary hotel of drug and chemical importer Paul Vincent. Known for his unmatched ability to circumnavigate border security, Vincent was in possession of a vehicle-mounted Bren machine gun, a number of barrels of banned chemicals and $585,000 in cash. In a lengthy trial, the prosecution sought a 21-year sentence. The trial was brought to close with a dismissal due to an evidence-seizure technicality.

Involvement in 2009 Vancouver gang violence[]

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In late 2008 and early 2009, a violent gang war was brewing in the Lower Mainland area of B.C., with the UN gang believed to be playing a major role in it. The police issued warnings to the public in regard to associating with Jonathan (Jon), Jarrod, and Jamie Bacon, as well as Dennis Karbovanec. Known as the "Bacon Brothers," they have been targeted by other gangs and criminal organizations. Oldest brother Jonathan survived an attempt on his life in front of his parents' home. There have also been numerous attempts on the lives of youngest brother Jamie. The United Nations gang is believed by the police and media to be the group responsible for these attacks. The Bacons are linked up with Michael Le's Red Scorpion gang from the Lower Mainland. On August 14, 2011, Jonathan was shot and killed in Kelowna. Three offenders are currently serving lengthy sentences in regards to the murder.

Structure[]

Hierarchy[]

After expanding to other parts of Canada, the criminal organization became more structured. It adopted a hierarchy system using military ranks. Each province in the country is attributed a Commander who chooses different Generals for each city. This method of work enabled the high-ranked members of the organization to stay more discreet and safe from police arrests as their identities stay unknown.

According to a 2016 presentation by Sgt. Doug Spencer of the RCMP & The Odd Squad Productions, the gang currently has no hierarchy. A large percentage of the original members are either in prison, dead, deported, or have disappeared. Some members still continue to exist, however only living off the name U.N.^[30]

Books and articles[]

• Langton, Jerry (2010). Showdown: How the Outlaws, Hells Angels and Cops Fought for Control of the Streets. Toronto: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0470678787.
• Langton, Jerry (2013). The Notorious Bacon Brothers Inside Gang Warfare on Vancouver Streets. Toronto: John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 9781118404577.

References[]

External links[]

• Kim Bolan (February 28, 2009). "Reformed United Nations gangster recalls vice and virtues of lifestyle". The Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on March 29, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2010.