UN gang associate behind Justice
Institute arsons and shooting:
police (with video)
United Nations gang associate Vincent Eric Gia-Hwa Cheung allegedly used his connections to organized crime to help him with a campaign of terror against people linked to the Justice Institute of B.C.
Cheung, 40, is now facing 23 charges for a series of arsons and shootings in 2011 and 2012 that targeted the homes and vehicles of police officers and others with a link to the New Westminster institution.
He was arrested Friday, along with his alleged accomplice Thurman Ronley Taffe, 54.
Both men appeared in B.C. Supreme Court Monday and were remanded in custody until Oct. 1.
Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit Chief Supt. Kevin Hackett wouldn’t give many details of the motive behind the mysterious attacks that dominated headlines at the time.
But he did say Cheung, “the primary orchestrator, specifically was targeting people he believed were members of law enforcement and the Justice Institute.”
And he “that in order to help facilitate the offences, there were connections with gangs and organized criminals to help them with their ultimate goal.”
Sources said Monday that Cheung has links to high-level UN gang members. And they said he has struggled with addiction and is extremely paranoid.
Hackett said the four-year, multi-agency investigation “was complicated and made even more challenging by the efforts of the accused to disguise their intent through cunning and calculated misdirection.”
And he said the prone is continuing and more arrests are expected.
Between April 2011 and January 2012, 15 people were targeted in the attacks across the Lower Mainland. Houses and cars were burned and shot at, leaving police agencies across the region searching for links between the victims.
Hackett said in July 2011, the Justice Institute received a threatening email referencing nine people.
“All but one of those individuals had their homes or vehicles targeted in the preceding months,” Hackett said.
Investigators discovered that an ICBC employee had looked up all 15 victims’ licence plates to obtain details of their personal information, including their addresses.
That employee was fired and may still face charges, Hackett said.
The case progressed in January 2012 when police identified three suspects in a Surrey arson.
While the attacks stopped, between Dec. 31, 2014 and Jan. 13, 2015, “a number of the victims received suspicious letters in the mail,” Hackett said.
“One of the letters contained a warning that the attacks would resume in the New Year. Investigators reconnected with all the victims to ensure adequate safety plans were in place,” he said.
In one case, a victim’s car was targeted simply because it was parked in the Justice Institute lot while the person attended an event nearby, Hackett said.
He said enough evidence had been collected to support the charges leading to arrests on Friday.
Cheung, who has no previous criminal record in B.C., has been charged 19 counts of intentionally or recklessly causing damage by fire to houses, vehicles and a trailer, as well as four firearms counts.
Taffe, who’s charged with a single count of arson, has had run-ins with the law.
In 1999 in Vancouver, he was charged with mischief and uttering threats. The matter was resolved with a peace bond.
He was charged with assault in Burnaby in 2009, but the charged was later dropped.
Cheung’s Langley home, assessed this year at almost $1.5 million, was searched by police Friday as part of the investigation.
He drives a 2012 Range Rover, according to personal property records.
A business called DataText Event Services lists Cheung’s residence as its address.
In 2003, he won the grand- prize show home in the B.C. Cancer Society Lifestyles Lottery.
About five months later he sold the home to 33-year-old Miguel Rodriguez, who Cheung had worked with at a Burnaby pub.
Rodriquez was gunned down in a targeted hit in 2007.
Hackett said “good old-fashioned police work and tenacity” led to the break in the exhaustive four-year, multiagency investigation.
He said police kept the victims apprised of developments throughout and provided them with security when necessary over the years.
“It’s been stressful,” Hackett said of the victims. “I think anyone in the room could appreciate that fact when your home has been a target, especially when your family has been present and your lives are at risk, whether from a stray bullet or an intended bullet entering into that residence or a house burning down around you.”
Despite the charges against the purported mastermind, Hackett said police still want more help from the public to identify other suspects.
“We know there are still people who have additional information about these offences and this investigation is continuing with further arrests and charges anticipated,” he said.
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