GANGS FEEL THE PINCH

Pressure Of Tough Economic Times Leads To More Clashes,
Killings

The global economic crisis may cost some people their jobs - but it's
costing some gangsters and drug dealers their lives, say cops.

Just yesterday, police released the names of two homicide victims that
members of the local Somali community have said are Somali. Both were
killed Tuesday.

Several Somalis have turned up dead in the last few months. According
to Edmonton's top gang cop, they may be the latest victims of a
slowing economy.

Insp. Kevin Galvin, head of the Edmonton police gang and organized
crime unit, said that crime groups are really just underground
corporations dealing a product.

They have costs to pay, brands to maintain - and they suffer as
consumers cut back.

"You have established (drug) groups feeling the same economic
pressures as regular business," he said.

They even have a credit system, he said, and credit is getting tighter
for them, too, said Galvin.

A regional cocaine dealer will go to B.C. to buy large quantities of
the drug - about 10 kilograms supplies 10 days of sales for the
average unit operating in Edmonton, said Galvin.

The B.C. source will charge for five kilos, but will front the other
five, he said. That loaning continues regularly, and the debt may
build up if more kilos are fronted.

But pressures arise that can end the lending. The price of cocaine has
skyrocketed recently, said Galvin, with turf wars in Mexico boosting
costs up to $50,000 per kilogram. Mix that with a slowing demand in a
slowing economy, and the big-time distributors are feeling nervous
about their business prospects; Galvin said they've been calling in
their debts.

"'I (local dealer) have got to find my money or someone is going to
deal with me,'" he said.

The debt filters down to the street as gangs resort to breaking into
each other's gang houses and stealing the hundreds of thousands of
dollars needed to pay debts, said Galvin - leading to increased
inter-gang conflict.

Gangs also have to get tough to stay in business.

Criminal organizations have brand-like reputations based on their
toughness and the solidity of their operations, said Galvin. If they
don't have a good reputation, big-time distributors may not sell them
drugs, he added.

Gangs with the toughest reputations fare best, so crime organizations
may resort to beating or killing their own members who step out of
line to appear disciplined and functional.

Somali gangs are particularly hard hit, said Galvin, because they have
only penetrated the illicit drug industry within the last three years
and more established organizations may not support them as times get
tough.