GANGS ALL HERE

Report Says More Than 300 Street-Level Mobs Thriving In Canada

Thugs Infiltrating Suburbs, Cops Warn

Street gangs are young, deadly and spreading across the country.

In Toronto alone, there are 80 of them, according to the 2006
Organized Crime Report for Canada.

The 300 street gangs in Canada have an estimated 11,000 members, most
of them in major urban centres, according to the report released
yesterday by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.

Toronto street gangs have distinct territories usually in low-income
housing projects "that are subject to regular incidences of violence,
often firearm-related," the report said, creating an oppressive and
intimidating atmosphere.

While the gangs are predominantly based in the country's large urban
centres, such as Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton, the report said,
"cells within existing street gangs as well as emerging street gangs
are now affecting many other urban centres, rural areas and
aboriginal reserves."

Although street gangs were the focus of the report, it also
highlighted the activities of all organized crime groups in Canada.

Rely On Violence

The report stated that street gangs are typically less sophisticated
than other organized crime groups and rely on violence, often random
and in public places, making them more of "direct and immediate
threat to the public safety of Canadians than higher-level groups."

While the emphasis may have been on street gangs, the report found
other forms of organized crime -- including bikers, and Italian and
Asian groups -- remain at the top of the criminal pile.

Investigators are also discovering that they are becoming more
multicultural, focusing on the criminal talents among members rather
than their heritage.

"Just as Canada has become a more multicultural society, so too have
many organized crime groups," the report stated. "Although cultural
ties remain an influencing principle within the organized crime
landscape, multi-ethnic groups can be based on the criminal
capabilities of members."

Police say gangs have been coercing legitimate businesses into moving
contraband and laundering cash.

The report cited the International Monetary Fund which estimates
between $22 billion and $55 billion is laundered annually in Canada.

About 80% of the country's gangs are involved in the drug trade, most
at the street level dealing, the report estimated, with a few groups
involved in wholesale distribution, manufacturing, importing or cultivating.

Pot Most Popular

Marijuana is the most used and the most produced drug in Canada, much
of it cultivated in grow operations.

Cocaine "continues to be in high demand" across the country, while
describing crack as a niche product.

Cocaine is distributed by organized gangs such as "some Asian,
Italian or independent criminal groups as well as several Hells
Angels chapters," the report states.