PARENTS, TALK TO YOUR CHILDREN

Their greatest crime was a distant connection to notorious players in
the latest round of gang turf wars in the Fraser Valley.

Four local boys - Ryan Richards, 19, Sean Murphy, 21, and high school
boys Joseph Randay, 18, Dilsher Gill, just 17, were shot dead for
having links to the infamous Bacon brothers and their Red Scorpion
crime group.

On Thursday, Abbotsford Police Chief Bob Rich and school officials
took the unusual step to warn youth that they, too, could be targets
if they get into the drug trade, on any level.

The intent is not to cause alarm but rather to communicate some of our
kids are at risk. It can start innocently enough with someone offering
a kid a few quick bucks to make a delivery. But things can get out of
control at lightning speed.

In the 90's, the Lower Mainland witnessed the slaughter of dozens of
young Indo-Canadian men, lured by promises of the drug trade - fame,
money, women, respect. The players have changed, but the story is the
same. The blood bath continues.

Youth can be cruelly misled by hubris, and an unfailing belief that
nothing bad will happen to them. Even in our comfortable corner of the
world, that lie is sadly proven to be false.

Parents, talk to your kids. Talk to your kids' friends. Talk to your
kids' friends' parents. We know you're busy, but talk to them and get
informed. Attend the gang information forums coming up in Abbotsford
on May 27 and in Mission on May 28.

Your kids may not like this kind of attention but now is not a time to
be complacent. It is a matter of life or death.