Red Scorpions

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]