Charges piling up for Red Scorpions

The charges are mounting against members of the Red Scorpion gang and their associates.

Delta police announced Tuesday that seven men linked to the notorious gang are facing dozens of additional charges stemming from an investigation into a diala-dope operation in the city.

Some of those charged, including high-ranking Red Scorpion Kyle Latimer, were also arrested last week in a Vancouver Police Department-led investigation into several Lower Mainland gangs involved in the drug trade.

The two investigations have resulted in 186 charges in total.

Delta police started “Project Green Planet” in March 2017 after learning about the dial-a-dope line based in Richmond, which was supplying product to South Delta and Vancouver.

Undercover Delta officers made several drug purchases and eventually identified the line managers and suppliers to be Red Scorpion gang members and associates.

“As we’ve conveyed to the community in the past, we are primarily interested in targeting the drug traffickers and not the drug users,” Delta Staff Sgt. Heath Newton said in a news release.

“If we can break the illicit drug trade supply lines, even if it’s only temporarily, we can save lives and reduce connected property crime stemming from drug addiction,” he said.