COCAINE FUELS DRIVE-BY MAYHEM

Police Blame Shootings On Gangs

Cocaine is feeding the recent spate of gang-related drive-by shootings
in Winnipeg, police say.

"It's not so much a matter of quantity, it's who's controlling it,"
police spokesman Const. Bob Johnson said yesterday.

Investigators believe two rival gang factions are responsible for at
least seven drive-by shootings on the streets of Winnipeg since last
month.

With so many bullets flying, police say it's surprising no one has
been killed -- but six people have suffered relatively minor injuries.

Thursday evening -- shortly after a 15-year-old was wounded when he
was shot while a passenger in a car in the North End -- police charged
a 22-year-old man with attempted murder.

Yesterday, University of Winnipeg criminologist Doug Skoog said it's
not surprising the gunfights are over cocaine.

'ENORMOUS PROFITS'

"The drug trade generally in Winnipeg -- with possibly the exception
of marijuana -- has historically been gang-controlled. There's
enormous profits to be made," said Skoog. "People are willing to take
risks in order to realize these profits."

The RCMP describes the illegal drug trade in Canada as "the principal
source of revenue for most organized crime groups." By some estimates,
the underground market brings in as much as $10 billion a year across
the country.

In other major Canadian cities, such as Toronto and Montreal, turf
wars over drugs have often sparked violence.

But Winnipeggers aren't familiar with gang versus gang wars, Skoog
said.

"In some ways, (it's) an unprecedented level of violent activity,
apparently between crime elements and crime elements -- and not
between crime elements and the citizenry," he said. "It's something
very different."