Jonathan, Jarrod and Jamie Bacon came from a life of privilege but instead chose a life of organized crime, writes author Jerry Langton in his new book: The notorious Bacon Brothers: Inside Gang Warfare on Vancouver streets.
The just-released book captures the spectacular rise and fall of the infamous siblings, a trio of B.C.’s most feared and revered criminals.
In an interview with CTV News, Langton, who has written about organized crime in the U.S. and eastern Canada since 2005 said the Bacon brothers gained notoriety quickly, and were responsible for escalating a cross-border drug war between feuding factions.
“They were exporting not only drugs but also ideas and tactics and things and things we’ve seen on the streets here that we didn’t see in places like Toronto or Montreal or New York,” Langton told CTV Morning Live.
The book not only chronicles the Bacon brothers themselves but also the catastrophic waves of violence and crime that spilled over onto the streets of Vancouver.
Whereas many people choose a gang lifestyle because they have limited economic and social choices, the author says the Bacons didn’t have to get into gangs – they did so of their own volition. The boys played sports in school and there is no evidence of family dysfunction.
“Here you have brothers who had relative privilege. They had a nice home, a suburban neighbourhood, parents who are still together,” he said.
“They look like the boy next door who just happen to have an escalade.”
The book details how the brothers delved into a criminal lifestyle, apparently wooed by the sexy lifestyle and the lure of what drug money could buy.
And that lifestyle didn’t just lure the Bacons, Langton said, their flashy way of life enticed other wannabe gangsters to join in.
“Because they were so famous so quickly and they were very obvious with their flashy cars and girlfriends and flouted the laws – all of those things were badges of honour and almost a recruiting poster for crime. They were getting away with it. They were living the good life,” Langton said.
The brothers became fixtures in the Red Scorpions gang, which was involved in a bloody battle to control the drug trade in B.C. and beyond.
The Surrey Six massacre in 2007 brought the rise of the Bacons to a grinding halt, immediately changing the public perception of gang life in B.C., and what should be done to stop it.
“Gangsters killing gangsters, people don’t mind that much, but when innocent people are killed that outrages a community – that changes a community,” Langton said.
Jarrod Bacon is currently serving 12-year prison term on cocaine trafficking charges, while Jamie Bacon faces a charge of conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the Surrey Six. Jonathon Bacon was killed shot to death in Kelowna in 2011.
The Notorious Bacon Brothers is available in bookstores and online through amazon.ca.
