Strong police presence planned for gang funeral

Uniformed and plainclothes Calgary police officers will keep watch over a funeral for a gang member Saturday.

Police said Friday they will be looking for weapons and gangsters at the service for Mark Kim, 23, who was gunned down in a downtown alley on New Year's Eve.

"Anytime there is a gang-related homicide, we can expect reprisals, so there is always an elevated sense of aggression and paranoia around the gang members that we deal with," said Insp. Shaun Gissing of the force's organized crime section.

Gissing said the mood is "tense" between two rival gangs since Kim's death.

Police will be at the funeral to deter any violence, but will also use the event to gather information and "learn more about the Calgary gang scene," he said.

Kim had been charged with numerous drug and weapons offences and once testified about gang life at the trial of a friend who was convicted of manslaughter.

Another man police say is a gang member was arrested at a pre-service viewing for Kim on Thursday evening. Tran Trong Nghi Nguyen, who has twice been convicted of drug trafficking and goes by the name Jackie Tran, was taken into custody on an immigration warrant that calls for him to be deported out of Canada.