The Surrey RCMP is continuing to increase its proactive enforcement and expand its investigational avenues to deal with the number of shots fired incidents that have occurred in the city this year, says the Surrey RCMP .
“Since January 1, 2016, the Surrey RCMP has received 28 confirmed complaints relating to shots being fired, with a recent increase in March.” said Superintendent Shawn Gill on April 1st at the press conference. ” While this year’s incidents are not believed to involve the individuals engaged in last year’s drug conflicts, the majority still involve those associated to the drug trade. Five of the 28 incidents are believed to be associated to a new drug-related conflict between two groups.”
To date, five injuries and one fatality have resulted from these incidents. Nine calls involved shots being fired into a residence or building, and two files resulted from a bullet casing being found but no reports of shots being fired. The majority are occurring in the evening between the hours of 9:00pm and 6:00am.
After making over 800 arrests and detentions last year, we disrupted those who were involved in the drug conflicts last year, says Superintendent Manny Mann, Investigative Services Officer. The investigations into the recent shootings are progressing well. We are making headway thanks to the cooperation of the public and the intelligence gleaned through our enforcement efforts.
Police officers from the Surrey RCMP and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU-BC) are involved in overt enforcement action to proactively and strategically target individuals in the drug trade.
Superintendent Shawn Gill, Community Services Officer, leads the proactive enforcement for the detachment. We are attacking this situation now and we are attacking it aggressively, says Supt. Gill. With the intelligence we are receiving, our proactive enforcement teams are making it very difficult for these people to conduct their illegal business in our city.
Some success has been already realized, with 4 arrests and a significant drug seizure.
On March 16, 2016, Surrey officers were conducting proactive enforcement in Newton. They stopped a vehicle and the driver was found to be transporting a substantial quantity of illicit drugs including heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and fake Oxycontin. This drug seizure is one of the largest in Surrey’s history and valued at over 4.5 million dollars. Pardip HAYER, 30 years old from Abbotsford, has been charged with four counts of trafficking in a substance under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
The drug trade is constantly changing. The individuals change and the drugs change, but the problem remains the same – young people are being lured into this criminal lifestyle with illusions of money and power, but the reality is much different, says Supt. Gill. We have an issue that goes beyond police – it involves the entire community. It involves parents, schools, prevention programs, and community involvement. For our part, we are working day and night to suppress both the violence and drug trafficking in Surrey.
“We have observed an increase in street level violence over the past four weeks and are committed to bringing the persons responsible before the courts,” says Assistant Commissioner Bill Fordy, Officer in Charge of the Surrey RCMP. “We continue to appeal to the public for information on those involved in the drug trade. Our priority remains the safety of our citizens.”
“I was in Surrey earlier this week, meeting with RCMP and visiting with recipients of Civil Forfeiture and Criminal Forfeiture proceeds who are working specifically on programs to keep vulnerable young people from gang involvement and protect victims of other forms of violence,” said Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Morris. “I am very impressed with the work being done by RCMP and integrated teams like CFSEU-BC – not just in targeting and arresting gangsters and making significant drug seizures, but also for the proactive community work they do through programs like SMART, End Gang Life and the Surrey Wrap Program which will continue to have positive impacts down the road.”
Since this press conference on April 1st, 2016, the number of shootings have gone up from 28 to 31 shootings. There is hardly a day that goes by without a news of another shooting. Now these recent shootings has accelerated to public areas and in broad daylight.
