| Founded | Early 2000s |
|---|---|
| Founders |
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| Founding location | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Years active | 2000s – present |
| Territory | Lower Mainland |
| Ethnicity | Various |
| Activities | Arms trafficking, drug trafficking, illegal immigration, money laundering, murder, kidnapping |
| Allies | |
| Rivals |
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The Red Scorpions is a gang based in British Columbia, Canada. It was formed in 2003 by Quang Vinh Thang Le (known as Michael Le), Tejinder Malli,[2] Konaam Shirzad, Matthew Johnston, and one other un-named young offender. 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.[3] 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 2005 . Gang members can be identified by "RS" tattoos on their arms and necks; any forms of skull tattoos usually indicates a member who has carried out a murder for the gang. The Red Scorpions come from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds, as they consider race secondary to loyalty and respect.[4][5]
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.[6]