Gang member gunned down

 

A man associated with the notorious Big Circle Boys has been gunned down in front of his mansion in Vancouver's Shaughnessy.

 

BY THE VANCOUVER PROVINCE NOVEMBER 5, 2007

 

 

 

 

A man associated with the notorious Big Circle Boys has been gunned down in front of his mansion in Vancouver's Shaughnessy.

Vancouver police say Hong Chao "Raymond" Huang was shot numerous times in an apparent targeted murder Saturday night.

Huang's 10-year-old daughter called 911 to say her dad had been shot. He was dead when police arrived. Numerous shell casings littered the ground.

Huang, 45, was "well-connected" to the Asian organized gang, a police source told The Province last night.

"We know the name . . . You would rank him as a Dai Lo [Big Brother] . . . somebody of influence who could organize stuff and make things happen . . . He is quite high up there," said the source.

The Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada lists the Big Circle Boys as the main Asian organized crime group in B.C., dealing in credit-card fraud, loan sharking, drug smuggling and counterfeit goods and currency.

"He is known to keep a low profile, driving around in small cars," said the source.

He said he believes that Huang is on the radar of some Vancouver police and RCMP officers after being linked to "one or two" money seizures involving amounts between $70,000 and $100,000. "I am not sure what has happened to these cases," he said.

Meanwhile, Vancouver police spokesman Tim Fanning said investigators will start comparing notes with other jurisdictions today.

"Ultimately, we're looking for a motive," Fanning said.

"Part of our investigation will be to speak with other police agencies, both in Canada and abroad. We'll certainly check if this is tied to other shootings." Huang was returning home, and police believe the killer or killers either laid in wait or had tailed him.

"It looks like he was coming home -- he had just parked his car," said Fanning. "He was either followed or they were waiting for him.

"This is a startling and horrific attack in this neighbourhood." Fanning said Huang was from Asia or Hong Kong.

It was Vancouver's 18th homicide of the year. Some other shootings have been linked to gang activity.

Yesterday, residents in the tony neighbourhood were still shaken by the killing.

"I heard rat-a-tat-a-tat-tat," said Terrie Hashimoto of the shooting at 11:10 p.m. "I thought it was fireworks. Then I heard the sirens, and all the police cars were coming around the corner." Hashimoto said she didn't feel right about the new owners, who paid $3.7 million in 2003 for the mansion in the 3800-block Cartier Street, a huge yellow home on a corner lot with stone walls and security gates and cameras.

"They have two very large dogs," she said. "The German shepherd scares you to death. It looks like it's going to jump over a six-foot wall to get you." Hashimoto said the latest shooting may be enough for her to move to somewhere safer.

"I've lived here 35 years -- I don't know my neighbourhood any more," she said. "My husband is getting ready to retire as a physician.

"I think maybe we should sell the house." Neighbour Huadi Chen was quaking with fear when approached at her front door.

"Before, I thought Vancouver was a very good city, but now I'm very scared," said Chen. "I thought they were filming a movie, but when the police came I knew it wasn't a movie." Trevor Jones sold the house to what he thought was a nice couple with two young children.

"I had no idea -- it's amazing," Jones said yesterday. "I did hear a neighbour say that they felt like they were under surveillance.

"It's five years ago -- she seemed nice, he didn't speak any English.

"I guess you live by the sword, you die by the sword." The Big Circle Boys were formed by members of the Red Guards, China's paramilitary group. The guards were arrested and sent to labour camps but many escaped and fled to Hong Kong and Chinatowns in North America. The gang is ruthless, working in a network of small cells that span the globe, police say.