A B.C. man has been sentenced to 11 years in a penitentiary after pleading guilty to his part in a drug trafficking operation.
Amandeep Singh Kang, 31, pleaded guilty to trafficking in controlled substances for the benefit of a criminal organization and conspiracy to traffic in controlled substances.
“The drugs in issue were the worst, most dangerous, and addictive illegal drugs that plague our society, namely fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine in substantial amounts,” Justice Paul Riley said in an April 5 decision released April 23.
Addressing Kan, Riley said, “If you do not make a decision to take your life in a different direction, likely the best outcome for you is that you will end up back in jail, and the worst outcome is that you will end up being another fatal casualty of organized crime.”
Kang had initially been charged with:
• being a member of a criminal organization that knowingly instructed, directly or indirectly any person to commit trafficking in a controlled substance;
• trafficking a controlled substance for the benefit of a criminal organization;
• conspiring to traffic in a controlled substance;
• trafficking a controlled substance, and;
• three counts of possessing a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking.
Riley said Kang was a leading member of the Brothers Keepers organized crime group.
An agreed statement of facts said the crimes were sophisticated criminal undertakings involving planned and deliberate distribution of illicit drugs clearly for material gain.
“This kind of conduct is predatory and exploitative, and exacts, as the case law notes, untold misery on the community in terms of drug overdose deaths and the many other miseries and social ills associated with the drug trade,” Riley said.
He said the trafficking continued despite repeated police enforcement actions.
“They were concerned only with or principally with how to continue without further detection from the police,” Riley said.
The seizures
In 2021, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU-BC) said an investigation led to the seizure of more than 11 kilograms of drugs, including fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine; laboratory equipment and chemicals used to process and produce synthetic drugs; a loaded pistol; and more than $50,000 in cash.
A June 14 indictment said alleged trafficking offences involving heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine occurred in Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Nanaimo and Campbell River.
On Nov. 3, 2021, charges stemming from the CFSEU-BC investigation were approved against Kang, Andrew Miguel Best, Ferris, Jannat Bibi Nadeem, Moshmem Khanun Khan and Tanisha Bhatti Bhatti.
Who are the Brothers Keepers?
CFSEU-BC reports the Brothers Keepers first emerged in B.C.’s gang landscape in 2017 and were immediately in direct conflict with rival gangs such as the Red Scorpions, the Wolfpack, the Hells Angels, the United Nations, and numerous other individuals and groups.
“This conflict resulted in violence manifesting on streets and in communities across the province,” police said.
CFSEU-BC says the Brothers Keepers comprises about a dozen core members and that each member has criminal affiliations, networks, and cells of varying sizes.
While there may only be about a core dozen, the network of almost 200 people has highlighted the reach the Brothers Keepers has, police said.
“As their network grows, as is the case with other gangs, it increases their potential to recruit and expand outside of the Lower Mainland and British Columbia, demonstrating why it is important for the group to be targeted by law enforcement in order to disrupt this growth and criminal expansion.”
In 2018, CFSEU-BC began a coordinated provincial enforcement effort dubbed the “Brothers Keepers Task Force.” It gained vital intelligence about the gang, its drug trafficking network, and violent gang activity that has impacted numerous communities around British Columbia.
The investigation involved the use of analytical tools, such as social network analysis to explore intelligence and information about the Brothers Keepers. That data resulted in individual investigations into gang members police said posed a risk to public safety.
