Mounties warn the murder of B.C. gangster Thomas Gisby in Mexico on Friday may cause a spike in gang activity and revenge shootings.
Gisby, who was the head of his own gang called the Gisby Group, had international crime connections and had brought illegal guns and drugs into B.C. He was shot twice at close range while at a Starbucks in Nuevo Vallarta.
"It's somebody who thought obviously he was untouched and thought he was at a level of organized crime that he was protected. Clearly not the case," RCMP Chief Supt. Dan Malo told reporters Saturday.
"We have intelligence that suggests there has been and will be retaliatory action. It's very important that the public stay vigilant to that," he added.
It's believed Gisby is linked to the Dhak Group, a gang that's been targeted since Jonathon Bacon of the Red Scorpions was gunned down in Kelowna last year.
"It's particularly frightening if you think that scores are being settled related to disputes in B.C. in foreign countries. I mean that just really increases the magnitude of this gang problem that we have here in Canada," Vancouver Sun reporter Kim Bolan told CTV News Channel.
Police say Gisby was an organized crime target. They are investigating whether the high-ranking gangster was the victim of a Mexican cartel or a tit-for-tat shooting for an incident in B.C.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's St. John Alexander and files from The Canadian Press
