Red Scorpions

rdf:langString Red Scorpions

rdf:langString Red Scorpions

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rdf:langString The Red Scorpions is a gang based in British Columbia, Canada. It was formed in 2000 by Quang Vinh Thang Le (known as Michael Le), Tejinder Malli, Konaam Shirzad, Matthew Johnston, and one other un-named young offenders. Michael Le testified at the Surrey Six trial that he and Shirzad formed the Red Scorpions after meeting in a youth detention centre facility. Le said the name Scorpions was a tribute to his "older brother who was killed and his nickname used to be Scorpion". The gang "used the word Red to symbolize blood" he said. Le said Jamie Bacon and his brothers were not founders but joined the gang a few years later. Red Scorpions have been running "dial-a-dope lines" – (drug trafficking operations) in the suburbs of Vancouver since 2000. Gang members can be identified by "RS" tattoos on their arms and necks; any forms of skull tattoos on the right arm indicate how many people that member has murdered. The Red Scorpions come from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds, as they consider race secondary to loyalty and respect. The Red Scorpions have been involved in an increasing number of well-publicized incidents of gang violence in the Vancouver area, in part due to their bitter rivalry with the United Nations gang. The Red Scorpions-United Nations relationship worsened after the infamous Bacon brothers left the UN to join forces with the Red Scorpions.