MUSCLING IN WITH GUNS AND BRAVADO

As Imported Gangs Tussle For Turf In The Region, Police Fear Innocent
Bystanders Will Get Caught In The Crossfire

Police sometimes get lucky -- as they did in July during a routine traffic
stop in Victoria when they came across two young offenders with a loaded 9
mm handgun and some marijuana.

Lucky not only that they got another weapon and a small amount of drugs off
the street but that it led to discovery of a new gang trying to muscle its
way into the local illegal drug trade.

That's the good news. The bad news is that the bust indicates outside gangs
believe the area is lucrative enough to try to horn in on established
territories.

And that is where the luck runs out.

"If they cross swords with our local guys ... ," said Victoria police Sgt.
Bob Martin, head of the city's gang unit, not bothering to complete the
sentence with the obvious.

"All it takes is some bravado. It doesn't take much, like on the Lower
Mainland, for these guys to get their guns and start shooting people. We
sort of hold our breath."

They worry one gang of drug suppliers and a rival will start spraying each
other with bullets, with a chance some will catch innocent bystanders.

Martin believes it's only a matter of time before the drug-related violence
common to the mainland spills over to Victoria, a 90-minute ferry ride away.

In the case of the two young offenders stopped in July, they are
Edmonton-based and were yet another gang headache for police there.

The two, one of whom is now 18, have been identified as Edmonton Cripps
with connections to a variety of other gangs, including Asian, Aboriginal
and Filipino.

What is even more troublesome is that they have family already established
in Greater Victoria, criminals known by police in other jurisdictions but
so far under the radar here.

Though the pair was stopped with pot, the Edmonton Cripps specialize in
cocaine distribution, which is apparently by far Greater Victoria's biggest
market.

To make matters worse, they do not recognize the locals, such as the
E-Crew, a.k.a. the Esquimalt Cripps, as true Cripps, the notorious street
gangs that rose from the nasty streets of inner cities such as in Los Angeles.

The one Edmonton young offender had the semi-automatic Beretta "stuffed
down his pants." Both had warrants for their arrest in Edmonton.

However, the local courts gave the gun-toter just nine days in jail and the
other a few days less. Probation will keep them off Vancouver Island for a
while. They did not go back to Edmonton to face charges and are now in Surrey.

"They will be back," Martin predicted.

And once again they'll be in competition with whoever else is trying to
sell coke. And that could mean eliminating competition in the way gangsters
do best, through violence.

Already, there are plenty of suppliers or underlings who have a toehold in
Victoria. The Hells Agents likely control many Greater Victoria marijuana
grow-ops, as do the Vietnamese gangs and other Asian groups such as
Indo-Canadian gangs.

That does not include the various other gangs, such as the E-Crew, and
independents who produce or supply cocaine, pot, heroine or crystal meth.

"It's easy money," Martin said. "In a moment of candour one of these guys
said to me 'Why would I want to flip burgers for $7 an hour when I can make
thousands a week.'

"He's right but that is the criminal mind."

Gangs are in business to traffic drugs and run spin-off enterprises, such
as prostitution, extortion and credit-card fraud, and they are mobile.

For instance, though they are involved in Victoria's drug scene, the
Vietnamese criminal gangs don't always make their presence known in the
area. They are able to conduct their business on the go, as are most gangs,
and generally prefer the mid-Island or the Lower Mainland as a base.