DRUGS, CRIME GO HAND-IN-HAND

Gangsters are directly responsible for most of the drugs circulating
on the street, says Sgt. Kirby Anderson, of the Nanaimo RCMP criminal
intelligence section.

"Drugs wouldn't be getting into the country without organized crime,"
Anderson said

And those involved are profiting from addicts who need the drugs,
creating a perpetual cycle.

"They're addicted, so they can't stop, which is security for organized
crime groups."

The black market that drives up the price of street drugs drives
addicts to steal and commit other crimes. And drug-related crimes are
thriving in Nanaimo.

Anderson said outlaw motorcycle gangs, Asian organized crime groups
and a large number of what he calls independent groups thrive in Nanaimo.

"These groups don't fit within the structures of more organized
groups, but work with them. It's a symbiotic relationship."

Independents do the bidding of the more organized groups, he
said.

"Like many organizations, the policy-makers are well removed from
where the rubber meets the road."

Like big corporations, organized criminals have developed trade
routes. While cocaine flows north from central and South America, much
of the B.C. marijuana crop is U.S.-bound.

"To be able to move large quantities and to develop sophisticated
transport methods, you need a sophisticated network," Anderson said.

In the U.S., laws like the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act - RICO for short - give police new tools to cut
organized crime at the knees. Anderson said he hopes for similar
successes using such Canadian innovations as the Forfeiture Act.

That law was used recently to seize the Hells Angels Nanaimo clubhouse
and other assets.

Nanaimo's drug scene has changed significantly since Cpl. Linda
Stratton joined the Nanaimo RCMP detachment's municipal drug section
10 years ago.

Back then, cell phone-carrying dealers delivered drugs to buyers -
so-called dial-a-dope operations.

"Now we have more complaint-based issues stemming from crack houses as
well as open-air markets, specifically in the downtown core," Stratton
said.

And she said methamphetamine, which was almost unknown 10 years ago,
has become more prevalent.

Grow operations continue to be a problem in Nanaimo, although they are
less common than a few years ago, before Nanaimo RCMP started its Green Team.

In Nanaimo, RCMP are tackling the street-level drug trade and related
crimes through use of a recently formed four-person crime reduction
unit.

"It's a specialized unit that works in plainclothes or uniform, as
required," said Staff Sgt. Garrett Wolsey. "Their job is to work with
prolific offenders who generate a large volume of complaints."

The team made headlines several weeks ago, when RCMP exercised arrest
warrants for 22 suspects in the downtown area in a single day.

Anderson said while many people don't realize it, their actions feed
the cycle of crime when they take a hit off a joint or share a line of
coke with that gregarious party guest.

"The money they spend to buy that joint, or other drugs, is going back
to organized crime, eventually," Anderson said.