POLICE OFFICERS WARN ORGANIZED CRIME IS HERE

We may be at the edge of the world, but organized crime is still reaching
the islands, say the commanding officers of both RCMP detachments here.

"Organized crime touches everybody, whether they know it or not," said
Sgt. Eric Stubbs of the Queen Charlotte detachment. "It's
everywhere."

"Organized crime has reached major proportions throughout the
province, said Sgt. Andrew Isles and Sgt. Stubbs in an overview of the
problem provided to the Observer. "It is estimated that organized
crime in the marijuana industry alone is worth $7.5-billion a year in
the province."

The RCMP has a national strategy to deal with organized crime, said
the two officers. Illegal drugs are the top priority, followed by
outlaw motorcycle gangs, economic crime, high-tech crime, money
laundering, illegal migration and trafficking of human beings,
corruption and street gangs.

As removed from the problem as the islands might seem, it's here. "On
the surface organized crime isn't very prevalent, but it is here when
you dig deeper," said Sgt. Stubbs.

The drug trade and other aspects of organized crime are having an
impact on communities, especially youth. "It affects people," said
Sgt. Stubbs. "If your son is on cocaine, he's dealing with the local
dealer, who's dealing with organized crime."

The justice system is 'under strain', said the two police officers,
and BC is becoming a good place for drug dealers to do business
because of "liberal sentencing practices for drug offences."

The RCMP is collaborating with groups such as municipalities and the
BC Real Estate Association to reduce the amount of drugs grown and
distributed through grow ops and clandestine labs, said Sgt. Isles and
Sgt. Stubbs.

Another form of organized crime that affects islanders from time to
time is credit card/ telemarketing and Internet scams. Since 1998, US
and Canadian officials have seized or restrained $34,000,000 and
charges have been laid against 40 Canadian telemarketers, said Sgt
Stubbs and Sgt. Isles. Over 80-percent of the victims are over 65, and
only about 10-percent of the crimes are reported 'due to shame and
embarrassment," they said.

Organized crime on the islands includes people who conspire with
friends and family to bring drugs to the islands. Any group of people
who orchestrate a route to get drugs here are considered organized
criminals, said Sgt. Stubbs.

"Crime is on a sharp increase across the province, predominantly
fuelled by the combined cocaine and marijuana trade. As a result, we
are witnessing the disastrous effects of drugs on our youth in even
the smallest and most remote communities", said Sgt. Isles and Sgt.
Stubbs. "Unfortunately, we will continue to experience higher crime
rates in the foreseeable future and have to deal with the
ramifications as it negatively impacts our collective quality of life."