DRUGS DRIVE UNDERGROUND ECONOMY

B.C.'s Solicitor-General Rich Coleman says importation and exportation
of illegal guns by organized crime groups in the province is only one
aspect of an international network of violence that is funded by
marijuana grow-ops in B.C.

"Don't kid yourself that these are 'mom and pop' operations," said
B.C.'s 'top cop' in reference to the burgeoning pot business. "Eighty
per cent of the pot grown here is exported to the U.S., and this cash
funds commodities like illegal guns."

Coleman said he was disappointed that media reports on his speech
Friday to the Vancouver Board of Trade focussed on "one sentence in a
25 minute speech on the entire infrastructure of crime." News stories
about Coleman's statement that guns are being smuggled from B.C. to
rebels in Afghanistan earned Coleman wide ridicule in the press and
among the public.

However, he stands by the quote, and says that the dominant Asian and
motorcycle gangs "look for something that turns into cash, and they
don't care who they sell guns to, it's to anyone."

He refused to comment on news of a pair of men affiliated with the
Bandidos Motorcycle Club who were shot dead outside an Edmonton strip
club Friday night. Dead are Robert Charles Simpson, 35, of B.C.'s
lower mainland area, and Joey Campbell (aka Morin), 34, of Edmonton.

Reports in the Edmonton Sun suggest that there could be a new "turf
war" brewing as the Texas-based Bandidos seek territory in Canada
already staked out by the Hells Angels.

An amalgamation of the Bandidos with the eastern Canadian Rock Machine
Club has been recently shut down by police arrests and convictions in
Ontario and Quebec, but the Bandidos remain on an equal footing with
the Hells Angels in the U.S. in the competition for territory.

However, Coleman said police here are "investigating sixty-plus
murders in the past five years, and that's just in one ethnic
community alone," in reference to Asian gangs.

"The upper level of organized crime feeds the money above and the
crime below," said Coleman.

"And the money that feeds it all here in B.C. is marijuana," said
Coleman.

"This province is going to go after their proceeds from crime. We'll
put the reverse onus on them to prove that their assets are not the
result of illegal activity, as we do with provincial sales tax.

"We can take it back six years," said Coleman in reference to audits
by provincial taxation authorities, which he intends to do with
convicted criminals once his proposed new legislation is adopted by
the government later this year.

Coleman said Washington State hands out incarceration for first
offences to grow-ops and are also "more aggressive than us in going
after proceeds of crime." His talks with federal justice authorities
showed a willingness to come down harder on grow-ops, as part of their
"discussionsabout decriminalizing marijuana" possession of small amounts.

He said federal proposals to fine persons in possession were not in
his opinion a conflict with his desire to get tough on growers.

However, "If we give out tickets, that's fine, but how do we collect
on this?"

He noted that 90 per cent of traffic offense tickets were collected
because they are tied to driving licenses but 80 per cent of alcohol
fines remain uncollected because there is no realistic way to enforce
this law.

And he said Canada already has de facto decriminalization of
possession.

"We prosecuted 1,700 cases of simple possession last year, but there
was another 12,000 cases in which the evidence was destroyed by police
and charges dropped."

Coleman said, "We need help. The police are doing a good job but
they're let down by the justice system.

"There should be no conditional sentencing for crimes of violence,
whether it's road racing that results in death or sex assaults,
because that's telling people that this is acceptable behaviour.

"Grow-ops are moving into Quebec, Ontario and Alberta, and all the
justice ministers are on side with me on this, because if the laws are
different in one jurisdiction then it becomes a place for crime to do
business.

"And the new trend we're seeing is what is called 'grow-rips' where
homes are invaded and there's often violence, which leads to violent
retribution from the criminals who have their marijuana grow operation
stolen from them. It's a vicious cycle."

Coleman says illegal guns part of 'trade'.