UN was founded by Clay Roueche, 34, and several friends in the Fraser Valley in May 1997 and now numbers about 100 members.Insp. Kevin Hackett said the UN is also “closely aligned with other groups in different regions of the country and major centres.”The UN also has national and international connections. The U.S. alleged the gang purchased its own aircraft for cross-border drug runs and was making connections to purchase cocaine directly from Colombian cartels.Kiloh said that like other crime groups, it is no longer “capsulated” and will contract out services like transporting or collections to other gangs with those specialities.
“The network of all the different criminal groups cross over on a regular basis,” he said. “All these groups at different times will rely on other groups.”
But the UN is most distinguished by the violence it has wreaked.“This particular group is, in our view, one of the highest level creators of violence in this area,” Kiloh said. He said the conspiracy to murder the Bacon brothers and associates involves a series of incidents, but would not be specific.The indictment says the conspiracy unfolded between Jan. 1, 2008 and Feb. 17, 2009 in Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey and Montreal. Other than those charged and Roueche, a mysterious character “known as Frankie” is also mentioned as an unindicted co-conspirator.
“There are numerous attempts, multiple incidents that we would allege have occurred,” Kiloh said of the charge.He said the charges will no doubt be a blow to the UN, but not necessarily its demise.“You can’t take out one part of a large organization and anticipate that the organization won’t continue,” he said. “We believe the gang lifestyle is likely to stay here in Canada. It has stayed everywhere else it has been in the world. It is about how we try to minimize that threat.”