CALGARY GANGS LINKED TO B. C.

Shooting Victim Was In City For A Year

The death of a B. C. gangster in Calgary on Sunday morning highlights
the fluid nature of criminal groups across provinces and the country.

While it remains unclear what motivated the shooting death of David
Tajali, the fact he was once involved in a feud between rival gangs
of Iranian origin in B. C.'s Lower Mainland, and had ties with
another gang with Calgary affiliations, is one more example of the
interprovincial links between organized crime groups.

Calgary police Chief Rick Hanson said the interaction between gangs
in this city and those on the West Coast is something officers in
both provinces have known about for some time.

Tajali was killed early Sunday morning following a shooting in
Mission that injured his younger brother, Niki Tajali.

Both had once been aligned with the North Vancouver Persian Pride
gang, and later the United Nations gang in the Lower Mainland, which
has ties to Calgary's FOB Killers.

As investigators work to determine what was behind the shooting --
whether it stems from a gang beef in B. C., is linked to Calgary's
own gang war or some other cause--police are saying it is typical for
gangsters to move between provinces, creating relationships and
business ties with other groups.

"These organized crime groups benefit financially, significantly,
from these (relationships)," Hanson said.

The connections lead to interprovincial travel or, in some cases,
with gangsters relocating to further the relationships or set up
their own factions.

And it all boils down to money, said Hanson.

"The proceeds of crime are quite lucrative right now."

Sgt. Shinder Kirk of the B. C. Integrated Gang Task Force said it is
not unusual for groups that are well established to cement
relationships with other gangs along family or social lines. In some
cases, the prospect of making money will also lure groups to
establish themselves in new areas.

"If there's an opportunity to make money, they'll either move there
themselves or they'll look at forming links in that community," he said.

Tajali reportedly moved to Calgary about a year ago--more than a year
after he was shot outside of his Richmond, B. C., apartment. Police
also believe he was the target of another shooting in January 2007
that instead killed Kirk Holifield, an innocent man who drove a truck
of the same make, model and colour as Tajali.

Tajali's brother was also injured in a gunfight within days of the
Holifield shooting.

This time, police were called out around 2:30 a. m. on Sunday to 4th
Street and 18th Avenue S. W., where they found the elder Tajali
injured in the driver's seat of a black BMW convertible with B. C.
licence plates. He later died of his injuries.

His brother, who was not in the vehicle when the shooting happened,
turned up at a local hospital and was treated for
non-life-threatening injuries.

Police said he is co-operating with investigators.

The possibility the city's latest homicide is linked to an ongoing
fight in B. C. adds another level of complexity to the homicide
investigation, Hanson said.

Investigators here are communicating with authorities in the B. C.
Integrated Gang Task Force.

Interprovincial relationships between policing agencies are
increasingly important: as gangsters move or forge links between
jurisdictions, law enforcement agencies must work together, said Hanson.

"It's no longer individual police services looking to deal with crime
in their jurisdictions. That inter-connectedness of organized crime
groups has resulted in a significant need for all police services to
be connected and share intelligence," Hanson said.

The shooting happened at a time when bars were closing and people
were likely milling around--a cause of concern for the police chief.