Kelowna gangster known

Kelowna RCMP say they're familiar with one of two men gunned down in Vancouver this week.

Ali Abhari, 25, and Ronal Shakeel Raj, 31, were shot to death Tuesday.

Abhari was a Kelowna resident and a well known Persian gangster.

"He is well known to RCMP," says Superintedent Bill McKinnon.

"He had been here for quite some time and his family recently moved out of Kelowna."

McKinnon says he can't comment if Abhari belonged to a gang, but the Vancouver Sun says Abhari was a mid-level drug dealer and had links to other Persian gangsters who've been targeted in the escalating gang war in the Lower Mainland. It also says that Abhari had a number of charges pending against him.

McKinnon says Kelowna doesn't have any street gangs at the moment, but does have organized crime gangs operating in the City including the Hells Angels and Independent Soldiers.

Reports out of Vancouver suggests the Abhari and Raj killings are connected to a gang war between the UN Gang and the Independent Soldiers.