Conor D’Monte, the fugitive wanted for the 2009 Langley murder of Kevin LeClair, has been arrested in Puerto Rico.

Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit BC (CFSEU-BC) made the announcement Friday night, describing D’Monte as “a high-ranking UN gang member.”

Once his identity has been formally confirmed, D’Monte will be extradited to Canada to answer charges in the brazen Feb. 6, 2009, murder of LeClair, who was killed by a hail of gunfire in the parking lot of a Walnut Grove shopping plaza while pedestrians ducked for cover and ran in terror.

LeClair was said to be a member of the rival Red Scorpions gang, which was involved in a bloody turf war in 2008 and 2009, considered to be some of the worst gang violence in the history of the Lower Mainland.

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Related investigations by CFSEU-BC and the regional Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) resulted in 18 arrests and 12 convictions of UN gang members and associates for various offences, including murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Among them, Cory Vallee, who was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years for the murder of LeClair after he was found guilty of first degree murder and a conspiracy to commit murder that targeted several other gangland figures.

Vallee, 34 at the time of LeClair’s murder, had been hired as an assassin by the UN Gang, which had targeted Jonathan, Jamie, and Jarrod Bacon – the Bacon Brothers – and their allies and associates in the Red Scorpions Gang, including LeClair. The Bacons lived in Abbotsford at the time of the murder plot.

On the day of LeClair’s killing, Vallee stalked his victim all day and lay in wait for him outside a restaurant in the shopping plaza.

Following the killing of LeClair, Vallee was charged with an unrelated crime in Alberta. He fled the country while released on bail and hid out in Mexico until 2014, when he was extradited to face the murder charge.

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“CFSEU-BC, IHIT, and numerous law enforcement partners worldwide, with the support of programs like Crime Stoppers and the BOLO Program, have relentlessly pursued Conor D’Monte to hold him accountable for his alleged involvement in the murder of Kevin LeClair and the gang violence that plagued British Columbia for years,” said Assistant Commissioner Manny Mann, CFSEU-BC Chief Officer.

“The work to hold those accountable for their involvement in violent gang activity and to bring closure to the families of the victims does not end with someone’s arrest. We always knew this day would come and we will now continue our efforts to support the extradition and prosecution.”