A man who police say is a known gang associate and who was out on bail on an attempted murder charge was arrested in Abbotsford last Thursday.
Manraj Singh Gill, 25, has been charged with three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and one count of breaching a firearms and weapons ban.
Members of the Abbotsford Police Department’s emergency response team, in coordination with the drug enforcement unit, arrested Gill last Thursday just before 7 p.m.
Cont. Ian MacDonald said a subsequent search of Gill’s residence turned up two ounces of heroin, three ounces each of meth and cocaine, and more than $6,000 cash.
Ammunition for a 9 mm pistol and a .308 rifle were also located.
MacDonald said a small amount of heroin and a “zip gun” (an improvised firearm) loaded with a .22 calibre bullet were found in Gill’s vehicle.
MacDonald said Gill is known to police in the Lower Mainland and in Alberta, where he has been charged with attempted murder in Strathmore for allegedly stabbing a man multiple times in 2007. He was released on bail in February.
MacDonald would not elaborate on Gill’s alleged gang connections.
“All I can say is his association is to a group that is involved in the current conflicts in the Lower Mainland, including the Fraser Valley.”
Several fatal shootings and drive-by shootings have occurred since Red Scorpion gangster Jonathan Bacon was killed in Kelowna.
The current conflict has pitted members of the Dhak-Duhre group against gangs that include the Hells Angels and the Independent Soldiers.
In Abbotsford, 25-year-old Harpreet Chahal was fatally shot in June while he was driving in the area of South Fraser Way and Emerson Street. He was a known associate of Jujhar Khun-Khun, a Dhak-Duhre associate currently in prison as one of three people charged with Bacon’s murder.
On July 15, alleged Abbotsford gangster Brian “Shrek” Dhaliwal was shot at while he was driving along Downes Road between 264 Street and Mt. Lehman Road.
Although MacDonald did not say that Gill is being investigated for connections to those incidents, he did say that police are continuing to investigate whether further charges will be laid in relation to his most recent arrest.
Gill is currently on two years’ probation after serving a nine-month sentence for possession for the purpose of trafficking and unauthorized possession of a firearm in Abbotsford.
He was also handed a 10-year firearms and weapons ban.
Gill is currently in custody and makes his next court appearance in Abbotsford provincial court on Sept. 17.
