THE WILD, WILD WEST

In this two-part series, Sun Media reporters explore the prevalence
of gangs that plague every major city across the country.

Police and legislators are concerned about the growing association
between street gangs and organized crime, with growing evidence of
gang ties to international terrorist organizations.

Drugs fuel the gang world in Canada, so it's no wonder Vancouver has
been struggling with increased gang activity and violence over the
last two decades.

In a sense, Vancouver is the perfect breeding ground for illegal activity.

"There is a market here for illegal activity and drugs are always in
the background," said Insp. John De Haas, who oversees youth services
and gang activity at the Vancouver police department. "Drug
trafficking is a huge issue."

Easy access to transportation lines to Asia and the U.S. make
Vancouver a prime distribution centre for both street gangs and
organized crime and De Haas admitted the area has more than enough
marijuana grow-ops and meth labs to keep the drug economy in B.C. booming.

"Gangs run the full spectrum of crimes, you name it, but the drug
trade is the predominant one, whether it's provincial,
intra-provincial or cross border," said Const. Shinder Kirk, one of
60 officers assigned to the RCMP's B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force.

The Gang Task Force was formed from public concern over the level of
violence within South Asian gangs in the Lower Mainland.

The high profile 15-year conflict has led to the murder of over 100
Indo-Canadians - all between the ages of 18 and 30.

As the gang scene in Vancouver continued to evolve, the team has been
restructured to assist with all gang-related investigations.

Authorities say most of the major players try to keep a low profile
and run their activities more like businesses than anything else.

"We don't see territorial violence here like we do in bigger cities,"
said De Haas. "In fact, we see a lot of different groups co-operating
and forming business relationships."

De Haas says this co-operation between gangs is one of the main
reasons criminal activities on the West Coast thrive in comparison to
other Canadian cities.

Under the radar

"The lack of conflict within gangs has helped them grow and stay
under the police radar," he said. "They say the B.C. chapter of the
Hells Angels is the richest in the world and it's because of that."

Although Vancouver has the typical examples of traditional organized
crime such as biker gangs and Asian triads, and ethnic groups, mainly
South Asian, Vietnamese and Filipino, both Kirk and De Haas say
they've seen some extraordinary changes in the last few years.

"The groups now are very fluid in nature," said Kirk. "We have the
traditional and historical crime groups but there are also a lot of
individuals who try to participate for short periods of time."

De Haas says many gangsters are putting aside their traditional roles
and forming gangs with the sole purpose of making money, regardless of race.

"About two years ago we saw a less ethnically based gang that came
together for strictly business purposes," he said. "We were rather
surprised to see this group grow so rapidly and have so much success
financially."

Malachi, a former gangster with close ties to the scene, said the
sophisticated approach is necessary if you want to make money and
keep the cops off your back.

'Push, push, push'

"The second you brand yourself in a particular group, the police will
pick up on it," said Malachi, who uses the alias to hide his identity.

"Instead you have this high-end activity where everyone is working
together and the idea is to push, push, push."

This multicultural approach has also allowed Vancouver gangs to
quickly form connections in other cities and are exporting drugs
nationwide more efficiently than ever.

It seems the cultural melting pot that makes Vancouver such a unique
city has also laid the framework for a new breed of street gang that
cares more about the bottom line than turf or allegiances, and
they're determined to set up shop across the country.