RCMP CHRONICLES SCOPE OF ORGANIZED CRIME

Report Assesses In Detail The Impact Of Gangs In B.C.

Outlaw motorcycle gangs continue to be the largest organized crime group in
B.C., followed by Asian-based outfits and Indo-Canadian gangs, says a 2005
RCMP report obtained by The Vancouver Sun.

The Scope and Impact of Organized Crime in British Columbia was completed
in June by RCMP headquarters in Vancouver, and details the size, criminal
activities and threat of gangs.

There are 108 active organized crime groups known to police in B.C., up
from 82 in 2004 and 52 in 2003. The increase, the report says, is primarily
due to improved intelligence, but is also a result of gang expansion.

At the top of the list are 29 outlaw motorcycle gangs, which include the
seven chapters of the Hells Angels, their affiliated clubs like the
Renegades and the Crew, as well as their associates.

The rest of the list includes 10 Asian-based organized crime groups, 10
Indo-Canadian gangs, nine Eastern European, five Middle Eastern, five
street gangs, and four traditional/Italian groups. In addition, there are
35 independent gangs that do not fit into those other defined groups.

Asian-based groups were also in second spot in the RCMP's 2003 report. It
is Indo-Canadian gangs that have risen in prominence over the past two
years. They were not near the top of the 2003 list because they were
considered too unsophisticated.

As the overall number of crime groups continues to grow, police are not
expanding at the same pace. "Seventy-two per cent of known organized crime
groups cannot be addressed in the coming year under current police capacity
and will operate free of significant enforcement attention," it says.

The report also assesses organized crime groups in B.C. according to the
"significant danger" they pose to society:

- - Outlaw motorcycle gangs are the most threatening because they are
involved in marijuana-growing operations, importation of cocaine,
extortion, control of the sex trade, and violent and financial crimes
linked to these businesses.

- - Asian-based groups are ranked the second-most violent, for their
involvement in importing heroin and synthetic drugs, growing pot, the sex
trade, extortion within the Asian community and financial crimes.

- - Independent groups are typically comprised of multi-racial members from
the same city, and are often "headed or influenced by senior outlaw
motorcycle gang members." Massive revenue from the drug market has allowed
these groups to become wealthy and, in some cases, influential.

- - Indo-Canadian gangs were typically associated with street-level drug
trafficking, transport of marijuana and violent murders. "Recent years have
seen increasing levels of sophistication and 'establishment' amongst the
more senior players."

- - Eastern European groups are more low-profile than other gangs, but are
involved in lucrative financial crimes, including credit-card fraud,
identity theft and money laundering.

Eighty per cent of the known organized crime groups are in the Lower
Mainland, and the rest -- eight outlaw motorcycle gangs, two Asian-based,
one street gang and 13 independents -- are scattered elsewhere in B.C.
"Most of these groups are associated to larger drug networks run from [the]
Greater Vancouver area," the report adds.

But the document also notes the 24 groups outside the Lower Mainland is
likely a low estimate because police intelligence is not as good in
outlying areas.

Eighty-two of the groups identified in the report are into marijuana
production, which continues to be the financial backbone of many gangs.
However, methamphetamine production and trafficking is expanding. "Recent
years have seen significant innovation by organized crime, particularly
within the drug economy. The result is a vibrant and rapidly expanding
underground economy."

The report estimates the marijuana industry alone is worth $6 billion
annually, and says criminal revenues now comprise about four per cent of
the provincial economy. "Marijuana alone appears of the same order of
magnitude as tourism or the fishery as a second-rank industry in the
province, and dwarfs [by comparison] the film industry."

B.C. has nearly three times the national average of growing operations per
capita, and 72 per cent are in the Lower Mainland. "However, the number of
rural marijuana-grow operations has increased over the last seven years,
with the highest increases of reported incidents in the Thompson-Okanagan
and Kootenay areas," it says.

The number of growing operations, and the total of plants in each one, are
both on the rise; the report estimates between 50 and 80 per cent of the
crop is exported.

"The majority of British Columbia-grown marijuana is destined for major
population centres along the I-5 corridor on the west coast of the United
States."

The profits from pot are often used to bring cocaine, ecstasy or weapons
back into B.C. Money is also reinvested into criminal enterprises, hidden
in offshore accounts, or laundered.

"This glut of cash, of unknown levels but at a minimum comprising $250
million annually and likely much more, has spawned a large grey-market
financial services industry."

Violence is also a spin-off of sophisticated growing operations, as
different groups lay claim to certain turfs. Occasionally, the report says,
gangs target the wrong person when they retaliate.

"In British Columbia in the past year, two entirely innocent persons have
been the victims of a homicide and unlawful confinement [bound and held in
the trunk of a vehicle], respectively, due to mistaken identity during a
gang-on-gang 'grow-rip,' " the report says.

And there are other victims.

"Children are resident in nearly a quarter of all grow-operation takedowns
in the Lower Mainland, and are often discovered living in squalid, toxic or
otherwise hazardous conditions. The chronic risks of fire or of 'grow-rip'
invasions routinely place both the growers [often low-level employees or
contractors] and innocent third parties, such as children or neighbours, in
conditions of heightened jeopardy."

The report notes other highlights of the drug industry:

- - "Independent criminal organizations with links to the Hells Angels and
Asian-based organized crime groups are heavily involved in methamphetamine
and chemical drug industry."

- - Cocaine trafficking is managed or influenced by outlaw motorcycle
gang-led organizations, and in recent years shipments are getting much
bigger. "Seizures of greater than 20 kilograms of cocaine, once rare, are
now relatively commonplace."

- - The heroin trade is closely tied to Asian-based groups, including the Big
Circle Boys.

Lawbreakers in B.C., by the numbers:

108

active organized crime groups known to police in B.C.

$6 billion

in annual criminal revenues equals four per cent of the provincial GDP

20%

of known organized crime based outside the Lower Mainland

72%

of known crime groups will operate free of significant enforcement this
year because there are not enough police

Defining a criminal organization

- - A membership of three or more individuals.

- - The continuing commission of serious crimes, punishable by five or more
years in prison.

- - The expectation that such criminal activity will yield a material benefit.

Source: Vancouver Sun