The Brothers Keepers is an organized crime group based in British Columbia, Canada that is engaged in organized crime across Canada and abroad. Originating in the Greater Vancouver area, the gang has expanded across Canada since its founding, and has established relationships with other transnational organized crime groups.
The Brothers Keepers gang is believed by police in British Columbia to be among the most "prominent and violent" gangs on the west coast[10], investigations also highlighted the gang's strategy to expand into new markets within the province, utilizing tactics such as reduced drug prices for street level dealers they supply, branded products (such as purple fentanyl), and increased potency of drugs they supply.[11]
History
Origins
The Brothers Keepers were founded in 2016[12] by Gavinder Singh Grewal and Barinder Singh Dhaliwal; with most of the gangs membership and leadership formerly made up of former Red Scorpions. Grewal took the gang's name from a line uttered by Wesley Snipes’ gangster character in the 1991 movie New Jack City.[13][14]
Assassination of Cetin Koç
Founding Brothers Keepers member Harpreet Singh Majhu and Orosman Jr. Garcia-Arevalo who operated under the Kang faction of the gang, were hired by Iranian drug lord Naji Sharifi Zindashti to take out Iranian-born Turkish drug lord Cetin Koç in Dubai. On May 4, 2016 Majhu and Garcia-Arevalo ambushed Koç as he was sitting in a vehicle in downtown Dubai. Koç was shot nine times with two silenced pistols and was killed instantly. Majhu and Garcia-Areval then boarded a flight out of Dubai, departing before they were named suspects by the Dubai Police Force. Both men were murdered shortly after the assassination. On May 11, 2016, Garcia-Arevalo was found dead in a blueberry field outside of Abbotsford. On June 10, 2016, Majhu was found dead in a burned out vehicle just outside of Agassiz, British Columbia.[15][16][17][18]
The killings of Garcia and Majhu were alleged to be ordered by the leader of the gang Gavin Grewal to "tie up loose ends" as the two had supposedly been speaking too much about the murder after returning, which allegedly lead to the split and formation of BIBO gang by the Kangs and those working for them and the feud with the Brothers Keepers.[19] The killing of kang group members Garcia and Majhu, allegedly by their own Brothers Keepers associates caused tensions within the Brothers Keepers; resulting in several members leaving with the Kang faction to form the Kang crime group shortly afterwards.[20]
Death of Gavinder Singh Grewal
Brothers Keepers founder Gavinder Singh Grewal was found shot dead in his North Vancouver penthouse by his brother Manbir on December 22, 2017.[21][22] The murder remains unsolved, however police released surveillance footage and alleged that the suspects were a South Asian man approximately 20 to 25 years old and wearing a black jacket and a white shirt and the other was described as South Asian, 25 to 30 years old, with a beard and wearing a toque and a dark jacket.[23]
In 2019, drill rapper Lolo Lanski (Ekene Anigbo) released a diss track titled "DEDMAN" in which he taunts the Brothers Keepers and the deceased Gavinder Grewal. One section of the song features excerpts from the 911 call made by Gavinder's brother Manbir after finding his body. Vancouver Police launched an investigation to discover how Anigbo acquired the 911 recording. Anigbo is associated with the Kang crime family, a historic enemy of the Brothers Keepers.[24][25]
Conflicts with other gangs
The Brothers Keepers are currently in conflict with the United Nations gang and the Red Scorpions gang/Kang crime family coalition.
Matthew Navas-Rivas was on the annual Brothers Keepers boat cruise just days before he was shot to death on July 25, 2018. He and his crew of Troy McKinnon and Cody Sleigh were Independent Soldiers members, who along with the rest of the Independent Soldiers gang and the Wolfpack alliance would become rivals with the Red Scorpions and BIBO gang while aligning themselves with the Brothers Keepers gang.[26][27] Troy McKinnon and Cody Sleigh were also found gunned down on January 15, 2018, and July 21, 2020, respectively.[28]
On October 18, 2018, Mandeep Grewal, brother of Brothers Keepers founder Gavinder Grewal, was shot dead in front of a bank in Abbotsford.[29]
On February 1, 2019, a former associate of notorious Punjabi Mafia co-leader Manny Buttar, Bikramjit "Bicky" Khakh was gunned down in Surrey. He was with friend and fellow Brothers Keepers gangster Harb Dhaliwal when the two were shot at in Richmond on December 21, 2018.[30]
In April 2019, Daniel Grewal, the cousin of Gavinder Grewal, was shot in the leg in north Surrey. This resulted in a car chase that ended with police arresting five suspects. Since the arrests, four of the five men have since been murdered: Austin Grewal (April 26, 2019), Iqubal Grewal (September 16, 2020), Julian Moya Cardenas (January 7, 2022), and Kevin Allaraj along with his associate Jeevan Saepan (June 4, 2022).
On September 10th 2019, a high-profile Red Scorpion whose brother was convicted in the Surrey Six murders was shot to death outside an Aldergrove fast-food restaurant in Langley. Justin Lee Haevischer, 33, was believed to have been blasted by two different shooters outside of a McDonald’s at 264th Street and 56th Avenue about 8 p.m.[31] Red Scorpions gang leader Jamie Bacon would blame the Brothers Keepers gang for his murder according to a leaked audio file as per Vancouver Sun.[32] Police who viewed the video of Justin Haevischer’s execution said it was disturbing and traumatizing according to the Vancouver Sun.
On January 7, 2021, Anees Mohammed, a drug dealer associated with both the Brothers Keepers and Wolfpack Alliance, who had once been associated with the rival Dhak crime group and notorious Dhak group gangster Jujhar Singh Khunkhun almost a decade before, was murdered in a shooting in Richmond. Police suspect that the shooting was retaliation for the murder of Kang crime family member Gary Kang the day prior.[33]
On April 17, 2021, Brothers Keepers member Harpreet "Harb" Singh Dhaliwal was gunned down outside Cardero's restaurant on April 17, 2021.[34] Harb Dhaliwal's brother Meninder and another man allegedly chased the assailant, stabbing him repeatedly in the torso, neck and eye.[35] The assailant, Francois Gauthier, was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2022.[36] Police at the time suspected that in retaliation for the Dhaliwal murder, high-level UN gangster Todd Gouwenberg was fatally shot 3 days later on April 20, 2021 at about 9 a.m. as he arrived to work out at the Langley Sportsplex in Langley.[37] Meninder Dhaliwal would later be shot dead alongside Satindera Gill in Whistler in July 2022. A week before the murder of Meninder Dhaliwal and his friend Satindera Gill on July 14, the body of longtime UN gangster Chris Irwin was found in Burnaby. He had been targeted twice in previous months but survived both attempts on his life, police believed he had been targeted by the Brothers Keepers gang.[38][39] Meninder Dhaliwal was the second main suspect along with Jaskeert Kalkat as the men who murdered Karman Grewal according to police sources.[40] Meninder's alleged killers were apprehended by RCMP within a couple of hours. One of them Gursimran Sahota had close ties to Karman.[41] Both Sahota and Tanvir Khak are alleged UN members.[42]
Brothers Jaskeert Singh and Gurkeert Singh Kalkat were murdered only nine days apart in May 2021. Jaskeert was a prime suspect in the murder of United Nations gang member Karman Singh Grewal at Vancouver International Airport on May 10, 2021.[43][44][45]
On February 8, 2022, Brothers Keepers member Juvraj Jabal was shot. He succumbed to his injuries on the February 10th. His murder was suspected retaliation for the killing of United Nations gang member Jimi "Slice" Sandhu, who was shot at a villa in Phuket, Thailand earlier that month.[46] Former Canadian army corporal Matthew Dupre would be extradited to Thailand and convicted for the killing of Sandhu in 2024.[47][48]
On July 30, 2022, at approximately 2:45 p.m., a targeted shooting occurred at South Surrey Athletic Park in Surrey, British Columbia. One of the victims was identified as 26-year-old UN gangster Harbir Khosa who was a longtime associate of infamous UN gangsters Shakiel Basra and Amarpreet "Chucky" Samra.[49] While Khosa would survive, his younger UN affiliates 19-year-old Jordan Krishna and 20-year-old Robeen Soreni would succumb to their injuries.[50] On August 5, 2022, IHIT arrested 25-year-old Surrey resident Bryce Dallas Campbell in connection with the homicides. Police at the time believed that this triple shooting was retribution for the days earlier killing of Meninder Dhaliwal and his unaffiliated friend.
On September 12, 2022 Brothers Keepers member Sameh Ali Mohammed was gunned down in Brampton, Ontario. Police speculated that Mohammed's killing was retaliation for the murder of United Nations gang member Arman Singh Dhillon in Oakville the month prior.[51]
Two notorious long-time United Nations gangsters and brothers were gunned down 2 months apart in 2023, Amarpreet "Chucky" Samra would be the first to be killed in the early hours of Sunday, May 28th, 2023 outside of a wedding he attended and was leaving at the time of the shooting.[52] Ravinder "Robby" Samra was gunned down on Thursday, July 27th 2023 outside one of his Richmond homes, police suspected the killers of both gangsters to belong to the Brothers Keepers gang according to the Vancouver Sun.[53]
The high-profile killing of Harpreet (Harp) Uppal along with his 11-year-old son Gavin, who was an innocent bystander, in Edmonton in 2023 made national headlines in Canada and also outlined the national reach of the BC gang conflict as the killing was suspected to be retaliation for the killing of United Nations gangster Parmvir Chahil in Toronto the day earlier, Edmonton police would confirm that Harp Uppal was a "high-level organized crime figure in Alberta" and that he was a member of the Brothers Keepers.[54]
In January 2024, Brothers Keepers affiliated rapper T-Sav (Tyrel Nguyen) was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of Kang crime family member Randeep "Randy" Kang, and university student Jagvir Singh Malhi, whose death is suspected to be a case of mistaken identity.[55]
The RCMP's 18-month investigation into the Brothers Keepers gang concluded in February 2024 with eight BK members being charged with various drug and firearms offences, including the dismantling of a large-scale drug lab which had several kilograms of Percocet, OxyContin, Xanax, Adderall, Fentanyl and Methamphetamine ready for shipment. The probe uncovered a murder plot conspiracy by alleged high-level Brothers Keepers gangster Michael Manpreet Johal which was allegedly targeting rival UN gangster Gagandeep Sandhu who ended up being killed, leading to additional conspiracy charges for Johal and 3 of his alleged Brothers Keepers underlings whom he hired as hitmen tasked with the alleged hit job, two Abbotsford men – Anmol Sandhu and Navdeep Dhaliwal, both 26 years old and a Surrey man, Gavinder Siekham, 34 years old. A significant seizure included 356,000 pills containing fentanyl and other substances, pill presses and an "industrial-sized drug lab in South Surrey which could produce 60,000 pills an hour, meaning its operators were likely involved in exportation to other countries on top of production for the domestic market. Police also seized four illegal firearms, over 1,500 rounds of ammunition, and 168 kilograms of precursor chemicals containing fentanyl, benzodiazepines, methamphetamines and carfentanil"[56], highlighting the operation's scale and its conspiracy for international drug exportation into Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the US.[57][58] Arrested for the drug lab were Brothers Keepers gangsters Michael Manpreet Johal, Richard Sen, Jagdeep Singh Cheema, Michael David Rast, and Kevin Moebes, Jagdeep Singh Cheema had once been a associate of the notorious Jujhar Singh Khunkhun as well and was a member of the Dhak-Duhre group, a group which is closely allied with the UN gang, however Cheema had allegedly flipped sides to the Brothers Keepers years ago.[59]
Barinder "Shrek" Dhaliwal, a leading figure in the Brothers Keepers and a known figure in British Columbia's organized crime landscape, was the target of an assassination attempt, on September 21, 2024, in Langley, when assailants opened fire on Dhaliwal.[60] He was alleged to have returned fire, resulting in the death of one of the attackers named Johnathan Hebrada-Walters, 38, who was from Edmonton and was known to police. Dhaliwal sustained injuries during the incident but survived. Authorities believe this event is linked to the ongoing gang conflicts in the region.
Allies
The Brothers Keepers are currently allied to the Independent Soldiers and the Hells Angels 'Hardside' Chapter, located in Surrey. High ranking Brothers Keepers members Ty Quesnelle, Harb Dhaliwal, and Barinder Dhaliwal attended the funeral of Hells Angels member Suminder "Allie" Grewal after he was gunned down at a Starbucks drive-through in south Surrey on August 2, 2019.[61]
The Brothers Keepers also have a close relationship with the Driftwood Crips, based in Toronto's Jane and Finch neighborhood.[62] Several rappers associated with the Driftwood Crips have made references to the Brothers Keepers in various rap songs.[63] According to the Vancouver Sun: "The Driftwood Crips, who have been active in the drug-and-gun trade since the mid-1990s, have aligned with, and are running, drug lines for the Brothers Keepers, a B.C. outfit that is locked in a bloody Lower Mainland gang conflict with rivals from at least two other groups."[64]