Surrey gangster linked to smuggling ‘contraband’ into prison using drones

A Surrey gangster has lost his fight to stay out of a maximum security prison because of all the trouble he caused in his current institution, including using drones to smuggle “contraband” into the prison, according to a BC Supreme Court ruling.

Surrey’s Munroop Singh Hayer, who was convicted of manslaughter for his role in the 2019 stabbing of Andrew Baldwin and is a known associate of the United Nations gang, was serving more than five years at Mountain Institution, a medium security facility.

The Mountain warden, however, transferred Hayer to Kent Institution and that led to a BC Supreme Court challenge on the basis of denial of procedural fairness and unreasonableness. 

“The transfer to maximum from medium is clearly a deprivation of liberty,” said the court ruling. “The applicant, Mr. Hayer has raised legitimate grounds to question the legality of the deprivation, and thus the respondent Warden has the burden of showing that the deprivation was lawful.”

According to Hayer’s parole officer, “an inmate must be classified to maximum security if the inmate requires a high degree of supervision and control within the penitentiary.”

The warden made the case that Hayer needed that higher level of supervision.

“The underlying rationale was said to be Mr. Hayer’s continued involvement with a security threat group called the United Nations gang, and what was believed to be ongoing illegal activity by Mr. Hayer and others within that group,” said the court ruling. “The specific activity, on the part of Mr. Hayer, related to involvement in the drug trade within the institution, including possession of a cellular phone, moving contraband into the prison using drones, and involvement in assaults of other inmates related to drug debts.”

The judge agreed and dismissed Hayer’s court challenge.

“There was sufficient confirmatory information related to each of the above-noted activities that the source information could be considered credible,” said the court ruling. “Taken together, and considered with the other body of information showing Mr. Hayer’s close association with members of the United Nations gang and/or members of other STG’s, a clear picture emerged from which the warden could conclude that the applicant’s continued placement at Mountain Institution jeopardized the security of the penitentiary, and that the applicant required a high degree of supervision and control within the penitentiary. Those conclusions justified the security classification to maximum and the involuntary transfer to Kent Institution.”