MARIJUANA BANKROLLING OTHER CRIMES

Growing Operations Have Become Organized Crime's 'money Machine'

B.C.'s marijuana industry has become so lucrative that organized crime
groups are using its profits to bankroll a variety of other crimes,
according to an internal RCMP report obtained by The Vancouver Sun.

"Information has surfaced . . . which clearly demonstrates that
marijuana-grow operations are funding other serious forms of criminal
activities," the report states. "The inter-provincial and international
marijuana trade . . . has allowed several organized crime groups to expand
into other criminal enterprises that may have previously been well beyond
their grasp."

Those crimes include weapons and explosives trafficking, cocaine smuggling
and stock-market fraud, the report states.

"Marijuana grow-ops have become their money machine," Insp. Paul Nadeau,
head of the Greater Vancouver Drug Section, said in an interview.

The RCMP report states that the pot trade has become so large that some
gangs now "solely perform money-laundering activities" and have no role in
growing, smuggling or selling the drug.

The 2004 report, obtained by The Sun through the Access to Information Act,
was produced by the RCMP's B.C. criminal analysis section.

The report refers to a threat assessment conducted by the RCMP last year
that identified 81 active gangs in B.C.

"All of the 81 . . . are involved, to a greater or lesser extent, in the
marijuana economy," it states.

The report details how different groups have grown to dominate certain
sectors of the trade.

Vietnamese gangs, for example, largely grow the drug.

"Vietnamese marijuana growers improved on previously established methods of
producing a marijuana crop, using innovation and new technology," the
report states. "They applied a higher work ethic, which has resulted in
increasing the profitability of growing marijuana."

Indo-Canadian gang members are primarily involved in smuggling marijuana
into the United States, often in cargo trucks.

And members of the Hells Angels, the report says, help run the show --
overseeing networks of growers and coordinating smuggling runs to the States.

"Hells Angels assert a very strong and stable presence in the
grow-operation industry," it states. "Every Hells Angels chapter has
members, prospects and associates involved in the marijuana economy."

While many groups are involved in pot, the report says they often work
together.

"Ethnic barriers have broken down and a high level of cooperation exists
between organized crime groups," it states. "The quest for profit is the
single most important motivation and differing cultures, languages and
heritage do not prevent any of the groups from doing business with each other."

But those relationships sometimes break down, leading to violent turf wars.

"Over the last several years there has been a tremendous increase in the
violence associated to money owed for failed drug transactions, drug debts,
and inter-gang rivalry as it relates to the marijuana industry," it states.

The report refers to one homicide investigation involving Indo-Canadian
gangs in which "investigators were able to intervene and prevent several
contract killings."

No further details are provided on the investigation.

The report says the value of B.C.'s marijuana trade is "modestly" estimated
at $7.5 billion annually -- roughly six per cent of gross domestic product
- -- and that B.C. bud is shipped as far away as London, England.