DRUG GANGS WORK A CIRCUIT ACROSS CANADA, POLICE SAY

Somali drug gangs appear to be highly mobile and loosely organized
without the hierarchy of traditional criminal gangs, says city police
Staff Sgt. Jim Peebles.

These gang members work a circuit -- including Toronto, Ottawa,
Edmonton, Calgary and Fort McMurray -- moving cocaine and guns around
the country, Peebles said in a recent interview.

"The group is in Edmonton one day, then they turn up in Fort McMurray
and next week we see them in Toronto or Ottawa," he said.

Police forces across the country, especially in Ontario and Alberta,
worked closely together in the last couple of years to identity core
gang members, uncover their movements and follow the shifting
leadership, said Peebles, who works with the Alberta Law Enforcement
Team, a special unit of RCMP and municipal police forces set up in
2006 to combat drug gangs and organized crime.

Police here believe gang guns are imported from Minneapolis and
Columbus, Ohio.

Unlike most criminal organizations, Somali gangs also don't have
strict territories they protect. The activity is "all commodity
based," Peebles said. The fight is over selling more drugs or
conflicts between new operators and established groups. Also, unlike
street gangs that identify publicly with gang colours and membership
rules, Somali gangs keep a low profile.

Membership is not about establishing group identity but rather about
getting fast cash.

"This is all driven by money," Peebles said. "There will be little
pocket groups within the criminal organization fighting each other for
a bigger piece of the pie."

Police estimate they are dealing with about 2,000 people across the
country and more than 100 "strong targets" with criminal backgrounds
in Edmonton and Fort McMurray, said Peebles. The exact number is hard
to determine, given the leadership shifts and the gangs are very
transient, he added.

In traditional criminal gangs, the bosses take a long time to work
their way to the top and maintain a strict hierarchy to safeguard
their positions. So when you take out the leadership, the gang is dam
aged.

That's not the case with east African gangs, especially Somali
gangs.

The key to dealing with this these gangs is the close co-operation
between police in all cities to track the movements of the key
players, Peebles said.

"So you keep track of the known criminals in each city. When you get
one in a car, the people with him are the

new recruits."

Three of the 18 murders of Somali men in Edmonton and northern Alberta
over the past five years have been resolved, and Peebles said police
are making some headway in getting help from the community.

By 2010, the Edmonton Police Commission had offered $40,000 in rewards
for information leading to arrests in 11 unsolved homicides tied to
the Somali community.

"They are a very proud community and don't want to bring a sense of
trouble to the community," Peebles said.

Andy Knight, a University of Alberta professor who works with refugee
groups, said he has some sympathy for the difficulties police face in
getting contacts in the community.

In war-ravaged Somalia, people are often reluctant to talk to anyone
in a uniform and that fear came with the community to Canada.

"They don't always see police as protectors, that's part of the
baggage they carry around," said Knight. There is not often a good
understanding of the Canadian justice system, making it more difficult
to get co-operation, he added.

Minneapolis experienced a sudden increase in the Somali population
similar to Edmonton's early in the decade and a similar spate of gun
violence, said Officer Jeanine Brudunell, the Minneapolis police
department's liaison officer for East African communities.

But things improved after the police put a lot of effort into
community outreach, said Brudunell, who has monthly meetings with the
community.

At first, police also had difficulty making arrests after crimes, she
said. In one case, a star witness was murdered before a trial. But
that prompted a change.

"After that, we've had some good resolution of cases."

As for guns, "it's possible" guns move across the border to Canada
from Minneapolis. Three gun stores were recently robbed by Somalis and
only a few of the guns have turned up.

The Somali community is mobile, moving to where there are jobs, good
public assistance, housing and an openness to immigrants, Brudunell
said. A group is now moving to the smaller community of Lewiston,
Ohio, for instance, she said.

In the last few years, Edmonton city police have had several meetings
with Somali community leaders, including a 2008 meeting attended by
more than 100 people in the community.

Peebles says sees some parallels between Somali gangs and the
Vietnamese gangs that operated in Edmonton in the 1990s. He worked in
the drug squad on 107th Avenue in the 1990s when those gangs were operating.

"For the Vietnamese, it just took time and they've moved on," he said.
Perhaps that will be the same for the Somalis, he added.