GANG VIOLENCE

B.C. Solicitor-General Rich Coleman has promised a new special police
investigation unit to combat organized crime.

This has been a theme for Coleman for some time, and not just because
it's politically popular. Organized crime-related shootings and other
violence are becoming more frequent in many B.C. communities, as gangs
jockey for turf in the drug and in some cases prostitution trades.

Police have sometimes resorted to a cryptic code to communicate this
growing phenomenon. A man found shot in the head on a local street in
late December was said to have had "misfortunes in the past," and the
public was assured that his latest misfortune was "not a random act."

In other words, he was targeted, likely because he failed to hold up
his end of a drug deal. This incident might not have been gang
related, but don't bet on that.

Similarly, when six homes were raided over two days last May, and a
total of 4,000 marijuana plants were seized, an RCMP investigator
termed it a "coincidence" that all seven adults arrested were
Vietnamese, but added that "it is reflective of who's getting involved
in this type of stuff." Indeed. The aggressive expansion of Vietnamese
organized crime into the lucrative grow-op business likely has even
the Hells Angels worried.

Coleman urges police to keep on busting marijuana grow ops, despite
the revolving door of the courts and the federal government's
political posturing about decriminalizing marijuana possession. Such a
half measure by the Ottawa Liberals isn't likely to close down any
gang grow-ops.