CRAZY DRAGONS HEAD LIST OF ALBERTA CRIME THREATS

At a time when Hells Angels are gathering outside Calgary to celebrate
the group's 10th anniversary in Alberta, law enforcement agencies are
identifying another gang -- the Crazy Dragons -- as the province's top
criminal threat.

The Criminal Intelligence Service Alberta's annual report, obtained
Friday by the Herald, identifies 54 criminal groups of varying
sophistication operating in the province.

Four groups are identified as "mid-level" threats, meaning they have
demonstrated some level of sophistication and are linked to multiple
criminal groups.

The remaining 50 were classified as "lower level" threats focused on a
limited amount of activities and fewer links to other criminal
organizations.

"The most noticeable criminal group in Alberta -- with cocaine
operations throughout the province as well as in parts of British
Columbia, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories -- is known to
police as the Crazy Dragons," says the report, a collection of
intelligence from Alberta's law enforcement agencies.

In another passage that doesn't refer to the Crazy Dragons by name,
the document says nearly every law enforcement agency that contributed
to the report has encountered the gang.

"Among competing groups there is one that surpasses all the others
with their drug products being provided in some measure to virtually
every reporting city and town, even in the midst of activities by
other criminal groups," the report says.

Nothing is said about any specific activity in Calgary, but police in
the past have linked the Crazy Dragons to the deadly feud between two
street gangs, Fresh off the Boat (FOB) and FOB Killers (FK).

A previous Criminal Intelligence Service Alberta report said the Crazy
Dragons may have supplied guns to one of the gangs. Violence between
FOB and FK has killed nine members or associates since 2001.

This year's report said a second group, led by a Vietnamese organized
crime figure, "is involved in the large-scale production of marihuana
(sic) in southern Alberta."

The report bleakly predicts the province's booming economy will allow
organized crime groups to maintain their grip on the underworld while
police deal with the fallout among the working poor and drug addicted.

"It is suggested the bulk of police intervention will become
increasingly necessary at the street level where social network
breakdowns (domestic and labour-related) as well as competition among
lower level criminals will manifest themselves with greater
frequency," reads the report.

The Hells Angels, meanwhile, are identified as being involved in the
street-level drug trade.

The worldwide biker gang arrived in Alberta 10 years ago when it took
over locally based independent gangs such as the Grim Reapers in Calgary.

Despite that history and three chapters in Alberta -- Calgary,
Edmonton and a "Nomad" chapter based in Red Deer -- Criminal
Intelligence Service Alberta says the gang has failed to make
significant inroads in the province's criminal underworld.

"Without making light of their propensity for extreme violence --
augmented by loyalty to the club's name -- members of the Hells Angels
continue to lack in criminal business savvy," the report says.

"They have proven themselves to be an available source of 'muscle'
either for their own endeavours or for other criminal organizations.
They are preoccupied with the supremacy of their name within the
criminal biker sub-culture."

The Hells Angels' Calgary chapter has suffered some highly publicized
setbacks, notably having to abandon a fortified clubhouse under
construction in Bowness because it violated building codes.

The chapter's then-president, Ken Szczerba, was jailed in 2001 for
trying to arrange a plot to bomb the homes of Ald. Dale Hodges and a
community activist involved in getting construction halted.

Nevertheless, police agencies underestimate the Hells Angels in this
province at their peril, said the author of several books on the gang.

"They weren't the best and brightest of the bikers, but they're still
part of an international organization and they're dangerous," said
Yves Lavigne.

More than 50 Hells Angels from different chapters pulled up to the
local clubhouse southeast of Calgary Friday evening as RCMP cruisers
patrolled nearby roads.

Neighbour Nancy Gunn said the motorcycle gang has met at the clubhouse
next door before, and she's never had any concerns.

"Rush hour traffic is worse than having a few bikes go by," she
said.

Monitoring Hells Angels parties has dubious value, Lavigne added,
considering they take great care to behave in public.

"When the Hells Angels socialize, they know they're under scrutiny,"
he said.

Although there are only three chapters in Alberta, the Hells Angels
involvement in the drug trade is widespread, said Lavigne.

"Who do you think supplies Fort McMurray and Grande
Prairie?"

Those boomtowns are evidence Alberta's robust economy has a downside,
Criminal Intelligence Service Alberta says -- growing demand for
illegal drugs that will enrich organized crime groups and stretch
police resources.

"The problems associated with harmful lifestyle choices facilitated by
increased incomes may predominate law enforcement attention," the
report says.