There is a gang war and it’s brutal,” Chu said in 2009. “One of the battlegrounds in this war is the southeast sector of Vancouver where two gangs, the Sanghera Group and the Buttar Group, are killing each other for profit and territory.”

Crown prosecutors have stayed all firearms charges against two Vancouver men whom police described as leaders of a violent gang when they were rounded up in a massive organized crime sweep in 2009.

Udham Singh Sanghera, 60, and Gordon Taylor, 49, were released Tuesday night after a surprise announcement in B.C. Supreme Court five weeks into their trial and more than two years after they were locked up.

Taylor’s lawyer Pat Angly said he doesn’t know the reason for the “abrupt” stay, but that it came after he requested more disclosure on police dealings with an agent who had been testifying anonymously under the protection of heavily armed Emergency Response Team officers at the Vancouver Law Courts.

Both men were among dozens picked up in March and April 2009 as part of a Vancouver police gang crackdown dubbed Project Rebellion. They faced 20 firearms counts between them after allegedly buying four guns in an undercover police sting set up by the agent. The roundup led to 209 charges against 28 people on 40 separate indictments.

Several others arrested in Project Rebellion remain in jail awaiting trial, including Sanghera’s son Bobby. At least nine have pleaded guilty so far.

Angly said the disclosure from the Crown had indicated the agent went to police in November 2008 for the first time alleging “Sanghera was planning to blow up a whole city block.”

But after Angly found documentation of a meeting the agent had with police months earlier in April, he faxed a letter to the Crown over the weekend asking for more details.

A witness was supposed to testify Monday, Angly said.

But instead Crown counsel asked Justice Victor Curtis for an adjournment so they could talk to their supervisor in the criminal justice branch about “the course of the prosecution.”

The Crown returned at 2 p.m. Tuesday and said all counts against each man were stayed.

Angly said no reasons were given in court. “It is five weeks into it now and the agent was on for about a week. They had a whole ER team with him the whole time,” Angly said. “There was a considerable expense and no explanation.”

At the time Sanghera and Taylor were arrested, Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu praised his officers for their efforts in stemming gang violence.

“There is a gang war and it’s brutal,” Chu said in 2009. “One of the battlegrounds in this war is the southeast sector of Vancouver where two gangs, the Sanghera Group and the Buttar Group, are killing each other for profit and territory.”

Neither VPD nor Crown would comment Wednesday on why the charges were stayed.

Crown spokesman Neil MacKenzie said only: “The branch is not able to provide any more details at this time about the decision.”

“During the course of the trial, the Crown concluded that the case should not proceed further and that a stay of proceedings was the appropriate step to take,” MacKenzie said.

Const. Lindsey Houghton said police were “advised by Crown of their decision and we are working collaboratively with Crown to see what we can do.”

“The door remains open,” he said. Houghton wouldn’t comment about whether police fear a return of the south slope violence that was successfully curbed after Project Rebellion. He said both the number of murders and shots-fired calls were down last year and continue to be lower in the first quarter of this year.

Houghton said he couldn’t estimate the cost to the VPD of Project Rebellion. Nor would he say if police are disappointed with the stays. “The courts work the way the courts work. It is not for us to express emotion over court decisions.”

“The treatment of witnesses and police agents is the first and foremost priority in terms of protecting people’s privacy and the courts treat them that way,” Houghton said.

Sanghera, who was self-represented, was not at home Wednesday, according to a relative.

The trial has heard so far that both Sanghera and Taylor agreed to pay the police agent for several firearms, which were provided by undercover police officers. The agent testified that he cooperated with police because he was concerned about what Sanghera was planning. Police wiretapped phone calls where the gun purchases were discussed.

Deputy Chief Doug LePard testified that he approved the investigative methods because “there was a shooting war that we were very concerned about.”

Angly said Taylor is planning on suing the Vancouver police for injuries he sustained during his arrest, but doesn’t know yet if the suit will expand to include the charges that have now been stayed.

“We are looking at a civil suit on the injury part of it anyway,” Angly said.

Some details of the case against Taylor came out at his bail hearing two years ago, after his former lawyer waived the routine publicaton ban.

At the time, Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Jeanne Watchuk said Taylor should be detained for public safety in part because of “the number and frequency of shootings in the Lower Mainland in the past months.”

“Crown submits that there is grave public concern regarding the shootings. I agree,” Watchuk said. “The courts have previously noted the danger presented by unregistered handguns and the public concern for their protection and safety.”

Taylor met the police agent in a hotel on Marine Drive to complete the deal for four handguns in February 2009..

Watchuk said the Crown’s case against Taylor was strong and noted he attended a meeting at which another party spoke of taking a hit out on a rival.

“Discussions at that meeting included the background of the ongoing disputes and the intention to murder two individuals and acquire a bomb and guns because they were ‘at war,’” the judge summarized. “Mr. Taylor was present for the purchase of the guns on Feb. 23, paid for two of the guns and left with all four of the guns and the ammunition.”

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