BIGGEST B.C. CRIME GROUPS THRIVE AS STREET GANGS WAGE WAR: RCMP

B.C.'s top-echelon crime groups are co-existing "peaceably" despite
high-profile tit-for-tat slayings among lower-level gangs, a new RCMP
report says.

The 2009 Integrated Threat Assessment on Organized Crime also says
the number of organized crime groups in B.C. has risen for the sixth
straight year to 135 in all.

Three-quarters of the gangs operate in the Lower Mainland, but an
increasing number are cropping up in other parts of the province.

While marijuana is still the most lucrative illicit cash crop for
export, it is being rivalled now by the production of synthetic
chemical drugs such as ecstasy and crystal meth, says the document,
prepared by RCMP E Division's criminal analysis section.

The drug trade is defined by the violence it breeds, particularly
among low- and mid-level gangsters, the report says.

"Murder, vicious assaults, shootings, kidnappings, extortions and
other acts of violence are largely committed by lower-level
associates and gang members, embroiled in internal and external
disputes, mostly over drug-trafficking territory and/or in
retaliation for drug rips/debts. All have ready access to firearms
and many have access to or are involved in the trafficking of
weapons," the document says.

"The criminal operations of the upper-echelon players has not been
significantly affected by the spate of violence -- which has often
been carried out without regard for public safety -- witnessed most
markedly in Metro Vancouver over the last several years."

Surprisingly, the police research also found that "rivalry between
upper-echelon criminal organizations has not materialized and they
continue to coexist, over all, rather peaceably."

There have been several significant arrests of gangsters in recent
months, with murder charges laid against members of the Red Scorpions
in the Surrey Six slaying and conspiracy-to-commit-murder counts
filed against eight men linked to the United Nations gang.

They are accused of targeting Abbotsford's Bacon brothers and their
Red Scorpion associates.

While the report does not name groups linked to the violence, it does
say that a small number of mid-level gangs have been the most
ruthless, plotting revenge and rivalry killings.

"This phenomenon is attributed to a small subset of mid-level gang
members embroiled in internal and external disputes with their
associates and rivals and is not indicative of rapidly rising numbers
of organized crime groups," it says.

"Most organized crime groups victimize their own and associates,
notwithstanding the immeasurable tragedy of the four innocent people
who have been shot and killed inadvertently to date."

The report says part of the seeming growth in the number of groups is
attributable to better intelligence on the part of police. A crime
group is defined as three or more people involved in the commission
of serious continuing offences that can earn sentences of five years or more.

Successful gang probes have prevented even more murder and mayhem,
the report says.

"A number of investigations have targeted organized crime/gang
violence over the last several years, which have, at least in part,
prevented many planned acts of violence -- kidnappings, shootings,
contract killings," it says.

"This has occurred as a result of enhanced intelligence-sharing, the
development of specialized knowledge and expertise regarding the
criminal activities and membership of specific organized crime groups."

While the number of identified B.C. crime groups has gone from 51 in
2003 to 135 this year, the greatest increase has been in independent
crime groups, which jumped from 11 six years ago to 51 today. As
well, the number of biker gangs or their associated groups climbed
from 10 to 33 in the same period, while Asian crime groups tripled in
number from eight to 24.

In the same period, there was an apparent decline in the number of
Eastern European gangs and so-called traditional or Italian crime
groups seen by police.

But that could in part be due to a lack of intelligence, the report says.

"Persistent intelligence gaps and diminishing infrastructure in any
agency to develop and retain corporate knowledge in the Eastern
European and Traditional Organized Crime portfolios have resulted in
a substantial decline in the number of these groups reported over the
same time period," it says.

While organized crime in the province primarily profits from the drug
trade, it has diversified to earn more.

"The most common examples of organized crime activity include drug
trafficking, money-laundering, a variety of financial frauds,
extortion, illegal gambling, trafficking in alcohol, tobacco and
firearms, and people, as well as corruption of public officials to
thwart apprehension and prosecution efforts," the document says.

Some crime groups have developed innovative ways to work together and
increase their profits.

"Increasing level of influence, interconnectivity and/or linkages
between all organized crime groups identified in the province has
provided new opportunities for some organized crime groups to expand."

Many crime groups in the past drew their members from particular
ethnic groups, but that is changing.

"The culturally diverse compositions of today's organized crime
landscape do not conveniently fit into these ethnic slots.
Contemporary organized crime groups are interconnected, often coming
together in loose, amorphous, transitory associations with other
groups or networks to facilitate a successful criminal undertaking,"
the report says. "Commonly, these collaborations are a one-time
effort and fragile in composition. When successful, these individuals
may regroup for another enterprise or simply disperse afterwards."