posted October 19, 2001 08:08 AM            

Ontario police arrest 40 in gangland raids
Authorities use Immigration Act as tool to lay charges
Michelle Shephard
Crime Reporter



CHARGED: Left to right, Jeyaseelan Thuraisingam, Panchalingam Nagalingam, Jothiravi Sittampalam.
In a series of pre-dawn raids, police have arrested more than 40 alleged gang members across the province, charging them with criminal offences and immigration violations.

Police say the reputed leaders of the VVT and AK Kannan gangs were among those charged yesterday.

Close to 400 officers in Toronto, Ottawa and Guelph, with search warrants in hand, descended on the suspects' homes just after 4 a.m. Handguns were found in the homes of some of the accused.

The majority of the suspects have been charged under a section of the Immigration Act that prohibits involvement in a criminal organization. It marks the first time that a street gang has been classified as "organized crime" under immigration laws, a new tactic for police attempting to dismantle Toronto gangs.

Some of the suspects also face a variety of drug, weapon, robbery and fraud charges and are expected to seek bail this morning in court.

Although Tamil gangs have been active in the city for the last decade, these arrests follow two months of increased violence, including the executions of two men in their early 20s who police say were loosely connected to the gangs. AK Kannan and VVT members were also thought to be behind close to a dozen city shootings, although none of yesterday's charges relate to those incidents.

Those arrested yesterday include:

Jothiravi Sittampalam: Police claim the 31-year-old started the AK Kannan gang in 1992 after arriving in Canada from Sri Lanka. His street name is "Kannan," meaning god.

He has had at least two attempts made on his life in the past year. Last April, he was tailed as he left a Brampton courthouse and his car surrounded when he arrived at an off-ramp of Highway 404. Shots were fired wildly into the car, but the only injury he sustained was a cut on one of his fingers.

Then last month, shots were fired into the rental car he was driving to his Scarborough home. Again, he walked away from the ambush.

In an interview with The Star this summer, Kannan just shrugged when asked whether he started the gang.

Panchalingam Nagalingam: Some police officers and community members call the 28-year-old the "Cat" for his uncanny ability to cheat death. Last December, bullets narrowly missed his baby son and girlfriend. Through the media, he told the shooters to leave his family alone and to deal with him instead. In March, he was shot six times as he left the Mimico Detention Centre where he was serving a sentence on weekends.

During an interview two months ago, Nagalingam said he has "no idea" why he was targeted.

Suresh Kanagalingam: His street name is "Koli," meaning chicken. Community sources say the name started as "goalie Suresh" because of his soccer position but later got changed to Koli. Police say he is a high-level VVT member.

In 1998, he made headlines after being abducted from a Parliament St. pizza shop. He also was charged with attempted murder in a September, 2000, case but had the charges withdrawn last month. He did plead guilty to assault of another victim and he was sentenced to time served in pre-trial custody.

Kailesh Thanabalasingham: Police claim he is one of the VVT leaders. He is more of a backroom dealer and not as high profile as the other members, community sources said.

He splits his time between Toronto and Ottawa. He was arrested in Ottawa yesterday.

Jeyaseelan Thuraisingam: This is the man who police say started the Seelapu gang and is simply called Seelapu himself. Police and community sources say his gang is aligned with the VVT.

He said in an interview last month that he has left the gang and lives outside the city. He was arrested yesterday in Guelph.

The majority of the gangs' members immigrated to Canada alone or with their families starting in the mid-1980s.

Although federal authorities have claimed that some Toronto gang members are linked to fighting back in Sri Lanka, Toronto detectives who track the local gangs believe the rivalry is Canadian-born.

It began with the VVT, a group that traditionally dominates the west end of the city from a stronghold in Etobicoke, with members ranging in age from their early teenage years to men in their 30s. Police believe it was formed in the early 1990s and named for Valvettithurai, a northern Sri Lankan town.

A short time later, police say, Sittampalam formed the AK Kannan, based on his street name Kannan and his love for the AK-47 assault weapon.

There was a brief truce in the gang war in 1998 after community members brokered a peace deal in a Thornhill mosque. But a homicide a year later renewed the fighting.

In the last year, the almost weekly shootings were punctuated with attempted murders and homicides. In September, a high-level AK Kannan member was beaten and run over. In October, 2000, two teenagers mistaken as Gilder Boys, a VVT sub-group, were killed as they sat in a car.

Police say the gangs have also targeted investigating. One officer had his truck stolen and torched, an act police link to Tamil gang members although no arrests have been made. Police claim gang members were also caught in police division parking lots, videotaping licence plates of officers' personal vehicles.

posted October 19, 2001 08:13 AM            

Criminals got to Canada, call themselves Refugees !

Criminals Call Gal Oya Manual Paru !

Criminals call Kieth Peries a Tamil Name!

posted October 19, 2001 05:12 PM            

51 arrested on Thursday

Thursday, October 18, 2001

Global's Gus Kim reports

TORONTO -- Toronto's Tamil community has nothing but praise for Toronto police after 51 people were arrested in connection with Tamil gang activity across southern Ontario.

At a news conference today, community representatives said the arrests brings the community a sense of relief.

Toronto police began arresting members of two Sri Lankan-based street gangs early Thursday morning.

Other warrants were executed in Toronto, York, Peel, Ottawa, Guelph, Kitchener and Windsor -- leading to the arrests of the alleged leaders of both the A.K. Kannan and V.V.T. gangs and 49 others.

Gary Anandasangaree told reporters that the two gangs have tarnished the Tamil community's name and they have made life difficult for the community at large.

But he cautions, despite the arrests, the community has to remain vigilant against youth violence.

Police raids carried out yesterday in Toronto, York, Peel, Ottawa, Guelph, Kitchener and Windsor resulted in 51 people being taken into custody and arrest warrants for nine others.

Arrests warrants have been issued for nine other people.

During the raids, police seized a many illegal weapons -- including a loaded machine gun, four handguns and a sawed-off rifle -- ammunition, and machetes. Heroin, stolen credit cards, blank credit cards and equipment for producing false cards were also confiscated.

The charges range from robbery and fraud to weapons offences

Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino says the investigation isn't finished, which means even more arrests are on the way.

© Copyright 2001 Canadian Press

posted October 21, 2001 10:11 AM            

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Tamil community breathing easier
Fears eased as leaders of violent gangs arrested
Michelle Shephard
Crime Reporter

The first news of the arrest was broadcast over a local Tamil radio station. Within hours it spread through shops, businesses, across phone lines and into the Scarborough temple where Ramuppillai Selvarajah waited to welcome 150 guests.

He couldn't believe what he heard - in less than 24 hours, police had arrested 51 alleged Tamil gang leaders and members on criminal offences and immigration violations. Arrest warrants were issued for another nine suspects.

It was the first time Selvarajah became emotional that night. The next outburst came when a friend sang a soulful melody composed in honour of Selvarajah's murdered son, marking the religious anniversary of the 17-year-old's death. There have been no arrests in that homicide but police have linked the October, 2000, killing to gang violence.

In a nearby pool hall Thursday night, Tamil youths met with Gary Anandasangaree, co-ordinator for the Canadian Tamil Youth Development Centre. They looked visibly relaxed, he said. In recent months, these youths haven't been afforded that luxury; instead their stomachs have churned every time they heard a tire screech or a loud noise, afraid to get caught in a violent gang war.

"Of the 200,000-strong Tamil population in Canada, a handful of people have made it very difficult for all of us," Anandasangaree said yesterday at a news conference, explaining why the community felt such relief after the arrests. "They have hurt the progress and the achievements and they've undermined the growth of the Tamil Canadian population."

Police Chief Julian Fantino claimed yesterday that the arrests effectively dismantled two organized crime groups: the AK Kannan and the VVT. Among those arrested are: Jothiravi Sittampalam, the alleged leader of the AK Kannan, Kailesh Thanabalasingham, who police claim is one of the VVT leaders, and Jeyaseelan Thuraisingam, known as Seelapu, who sources say is closely linked to VVT.

"These gangs survive on the fear and intimidation of others as they are very violent," he said. "They attack in numbers using all types of firearms, machetes and baseball bats. Crimes often go unreported for fear of reprisal."

Police say these charges differ from past arrests because the majority of the suspects arrested over the last two days were charged under a section of the Immigration Act that prohibits association with an organized crime group. It's the first time Toronto police have classified gangs as organized crime and attempted to convict on membership alone.

"Law enforcement collectively has worked in partnership to actually dismantle criminal organizations as opposed to reacting to individual crimes that occur," Detective-Sergeant Greg Getty said yesterday.

In Scarborough court yesterday, 20-year-old Amal Rajesparam appeared for a bail hearing, one of the dozens taking place across the city. He faces six weapons charges. Like many of his co-accused, he was denied bail.

posted October 22, 2001 03:11 AM         

Toronto police raid Tamil gangs
40 arrested

Tom Blackwell
National Post

Toronto police say a string of raids and arrests yesterday has dealt a major blow to Tamil gangs blamed for several killings and suspected of funnelling much of their ill-gotten gain to Sri Lankan terrorists.

More than 40 members of two rival gangs locked in a raging street war were arrested in raids that started before dawn.

Additional arrests and search warrants involving members of the A.K. Kannon and VVT gangs are expected, police said. Both groups have been linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also known as the Tamil Tigers, whose bloody battle to win an independent homeland for Tamils in Sri Lanka has cost thousands of lives since 1983.

The arrests extended into neighboring Peel Region and involved officers from Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The offensive has seriously undermined the gangs, said Sergeant Rob Knapper, a Toronto Police spokesman.

"It's a fairly major group of arrests," he said. "They've got a number of the leaders."

Police said they laid fraud, robbery, immigration and firearms charges against the suspects, but divulged few other details. A news conference was planned for today.

Giovanna Gatti, an Immigration Canada spokeswoman, refused to specify what role her department played in the operation, except to say Immigration frequently co-operates in police investigations.

Toronto's Tamil community has grown to 120,000 in recent years as Sri Lankans flee the bloody civil war in their homeland. Toronto is the "overwhelming" destination of choice for migrating Tamils, according to the Sunday Times of Sri Lanka.

The vast majority lead law-abiding lives. But police estimate Toronto is home to as many as 1,000 Tamil gang members.

Tamil criminals in Ontario and Quebec are involved in a growing range of illegal acts, from home invasions and drug trafficking to human smuggling and arms trafficking, according to an RCMP report made public last year.

Their turf wars in Toronto have been bloody. One RCMP officer said in April there had been 65 shootings in the city just in the previous seven months. The report referred to five unsolved homicides linked to Tamil gangs.

Another RCMP report said there was "clear evidence" criminal profits from the VVT and A.K. Kannon gangs in Toronto and Montreal were being passed on to the Tamil Tigers, one of the world's bloodiest terrorist groups.

The report also noted that most law-abiding Tamil-Canadians are afraid of testifying against the gangs.

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http://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20011003/717649.html&qs=LTTE

Released 'assassin' accused of return to criminal ways - Immigration board let him go despite evidence of danger

Stewart Bell
National Post

NEWMARKET - A refugee who police say is an assassin for a South Asian terrorist group has been arrested in Toronto following an investigation into a sophisticated fraud scheme that used spy cameras hidden in gas stations to record debit card information, the RCMP announced yesterday.

The arrest of Niranjan Fabian could prove embarrassing for the federal government as it attempts to portray itself as tough on terrorism: Mr. Fabian's alleged crimes were committed after immigration authorities set him free despite evidence of his criminal past and terrorist ties.

Although he had been declared a danger to Canadians, had a criminal record, was a gang leader and was alleged by police to be a hit man for the Tamil Tigers terrorist organization, Mr. Fabian was released from immigration custody in July, 2000, to live at home in Toronto.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada officials said at the time that Mr. Fabian was remorseful and co-operative and that the $45,000 in bonds he posted, as well as a curfew order and his pledge to stay away from guns and criminals, were "adequate" protection for Canadians.

Police arrested Mr. Fabian on the weekend for his alleged role in a scam the RCMP said was "potentially worth millions." He has been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud over $5,000, possession of credit card forging tools and another count related to the unauthorized use of credit cards.

The charges each carry maximum sentences of 10 years.

The investigation, a joint effort of the Ontario Provincial Police anti-rackets unit, RCMP commercial crime section, Toronto police and the banking and petroleum industries, began four weeks ago, the RCMP said at a news conference yesterday in Newmarket.

Police raided homes in Scarborough and Don Mills, Ont., and searched two businesses and two cars. What they found was an array of high-tech spy gadgetry that had been set up in Toronto-area service stations to gain access to customers' bank accounts.

Cameras the size of dice were hidden behind ceiling tiles and positioned over the gas station counters to record debit card PINs as consumers punched them in. Police also seized video recorders, transmitters, receivers and several videotapes.

In addition, they found computer chips planted inside debit card machine key pads to record the coding information on cards as they were swiped. Using that, the suspects allegedly were able to make copies of the cards and, together with the PINs, empty the bank accounts of victims.

Investigators do not know how much money might have been stolen using the system, but one search turned up a stack of $20 bills totalling $7,540 stuffed in a fruit bowl atop a refrigerator.

Holes that were so small they could not be seen from below had been punched into gas station ceiling panels to provide a window for the cameras. "If you looked up you really wouldn't see too much," said Sergeant Joe MacQueen of the RCMP's Toronto North commercial crime section.

The cameras are "not that difficult to get," he said. But the memory chips, used to copy information from the magnetic strips on debit cards, had to be custom-made, he said. "Some of the people arrested, we believe, have that expertise."

Also charged was Abbas Esufali, 37. He and Mr. Fabian were known to police, Sgt. MacQueen said. Investigators said some employees at the service stations were involved in the scam. They would not identify the gas stations in question.

Mr. Fabian came to Canada from Sri Lanka as a refugee in 1990 and joined the VVT, an ethnic Tamil gang that police say is the Canadian enforcement and fundraising arm for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a Sri Lankan guerrilla-terrorist group.

His refugee claim was accepted and he became a permanent resident in 1995. But on March 25, 1998, he was convicted of conspiring to forge a Canadian passport, conspiring to commit assault causing bodily harm and attempting to obstruct justice.

During sentencing, the judge said Mr. Fabian "was prepared in order to protect his interest in the illicit trade of passports, to go so far as to resort to violence, in which innocent third parties could have been harmed. The full extent of his criminal activities and his criminal mindset discloses very little respect for the law."

A 1998 report by the Toronto police's Tamil Task Force identified Mr. Fabian as a "former assassin for the LTTE and now second or third in command of the VVT." The RCMP also identified him as a VVT "leader" in a 1998 search warrant executed in connection with another alleged terrorist.

After completing his criminal sentence, Mr. Fabian was declared a danger to the public and ordered deported. He delayed his departure, however, by launching a series of court challenges. Then last summer, an immigration department official called for his release from custody, saying he was remorseful and co-operative.

An immigration spokesman said yesterday the department can detain people for deportation only if their removal from Canada is imminent, and Mr. Fabian had a continuing court appeal with no end in sight.

"In his case the conditions were very tight and the bonds were very high, so I don't think it's unreasonable," said Doug Kellam. "What happened then was based on the best facts at the time.

"Now, well certainly this is different."

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