ORGANIZED CRIME HAS LOCAL IMPACT

Recent national attention to Hells Angels activity in Saskatchewan and
Quebec should remind people in Medicine Hat that organized crime reaches
into every community, said a Medicine Hat police sergeant on Friday.

"Nobody needs to feel afraid or like the sky is falling, but organized
crime is everywhere and effects all of us," said Sgt. Rick Wigle of the
Medicine Hat Police Service. "When the public is aware of crime like this,
people are more likely to support police services and initiatives by MLAs
to change legislation to more effectively deal with these people."

Nine Quebec Hells Angels, including four members of the notorious Nomads
chapter, received sentences ranging from 10 to 15 years Tuesday for drug
trafficking, gangsterism and conspiracy to commit murder.

The sentences were the result of a plea bargain and took effect on Tuesday.
They were added to the 30 months the men have served since they were
arrested in the spring of 2001.

The charges relate to the gang's bloody turf war with rival gangs for
control of the lucrative drug trade in the mid-1990s.

The Hells Angels' local status became public when two Medicine Hat men
pleaded guilty in court to manslaughter for the January, 2002 death of
Ronald Wayne Reynolds.

Stacey Ross Carlier and Ryan Devon Stadnick, who were sentenced to seven
years in jail, minus one year for time spent in custody before their trial,
were reported by police to be low-level members of the Edmonton chapter of
the Hells Angels.

The activity of the Hells Angels and all other organized crime rings in
Canada is the focus of the Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada, which
releases an annual report based on intelligence and investigation reports.

The report is a comprehensive review of targeted organized crime groups and
their activities and touches on the enormous task police have in monitoring
and cracking down on the groups.

In June, police chief Normand Boucher lauded a provincewide police unit
formed to battle organized crime by gangs.

The province more than doubled the $2.4 million it previously spent to
fight organized crime and street gangs.

"We know most of the drugs being sold in Medicine Hat is controlled by the
Hells Angels," Boucher said at the time. "It will be easier to investigate
that further, find the evidence you need to put it to court and come out
successfully with charges against the bigger players."

Wigle said organized crime groups can be linked to drugs, property damage
and subsequent increased insurance costs, assaults and general intimidation
across Canada.

"We have Hells Angel influence in this town, we have H.A. coke, we have
Asian organized crime. You may not see direct signs that they're here
because they have so many people to do their dirty work."

He said police have to continue to chip away at organized crime rings to
keep their communities safe and crime rates low.

While Wigle said motorcycle gangs and organized crime have been in Medicine
Hat for decades, they are growing stronger and expanding.

"Any time we can talk about organized crime and bring these groups into the
light, it's to our advantage because they work best in the shadows."