SQUAMISH MURDER VICTIM LINKED TO LOTUS GANG

Burnaby Drug-Dealer'S Death Likely a Targeted Hit

An independent "multi-kilo" drug dealer with strong affiliations to
the notorious Asian Lotus gang was the man whose body was found on a
service road in Squamish on Sunday, police sources say.

The body of William Lim Woo, 55, of Surrey was found by hikers near
Mamquam road. police have said his death appears to be a targeted hit.

Woo was known to police, Sgt. Jennifer Pound of the Integrated
Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) said. Pound wouldn't, however, say
why or how he was known.

"It's still in the early stages, so we need to let the investigators
do their investigating," she said. "To comment right now would be premature."

Other police sources told The Province that Woo, better known as
"Billy Woo," used to run an auto body shop in Burnaby and was well
known to Asian organized-crime investigators.

In the early 1990s, Woo tried to make a name for himself by trying to
be a "peacemaker" between the Hells Angels in Nanaimo and the
Vietnamese gang son vancouver island, which were trying to muscle in
on the drug trade, the source said.

"Billy had no connection to the viets but arranged for a sit-down
between the Angels and the Viets... that was his big boast," the
source said.

At its height in the late 1990s, the Lotus gang, with more than 100
members and connections to the Hells Angels and Indo-canadian-based
crime groups, was very active in the Vancouver area with cocaine and
heroin importation, trafficking, credit-card fraud, extortion and
cellphone cloning.

Pound said police are unable to comment on any gang links or on
reports that Woo was found beaten and bound in duct tape.

"There have been lots of rumours and speculation out there. We
wouldn't normally in a homicide investigation speak to the evidence,
and this case is no different," she said.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the IHIT tip
line at 1-877-551-4448.