Days after two young men were found dead in a southeast Edmonton neighbourhood, police say their deaths have been linked to the drug trade and gang activity.
Late Thursday, Edmonton Police confirmed Navdeep Sidhu, 24, and Harman Mangat, 22, both residents of British Columbia, had died from multiple gunshot wounds.
Their bodies were discovered in a truck, with B.C. plates, that was stopped in the Charlesworth neighbourhood in the city’s southeast Wednesday afternoon.
“This wasn’t a random incident, because [investigators] believe this is related to the drug trade,” EPS spokesperson Patrycia Thenu said.
Police in Abbotsford, B.C. told CTV News the two deceased previously had ties to an ongoing rivalry between two gangs in that community.
Back in October, 2014, an 18-year-old died in the so-called ‘Townline Hill conflict’.
No charges have been laid in that slaying, but court documents claim a Navdeep Sidhu participated in the crossfire – media reports in B.C. claim the same man was killed Wednesday in Edmonton.
Inspector Chad Coles, with ALERT, said in the last year, investigators have noticed more gangsters have guns.
“Borders are artificial when it comes to organized crime groups in the in the drug-trafficking networks,” Coles said.
“There could be competition, obviously, between different groups for territory, often protection between different groups, I can’t say for certain what the reasoning would be.”
Sources tell CTV News the two killed Wednesday could have been part of a turf war.
“That’s still under investigation,” Thenu said. “[Investigators are] really looking to the public for help, somebody knows something and detectives need that information.”
Detectives are working to determine if the victims were killed in the location they were found.
Police are urging anyone with information to contact investigators through the EPS non-emergency line at 780-423-4567 or #377 on a mobile phone.
Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
With files from Angela Jung
