Thursday, October 25, 2007

 

Unstable gang scene unique to B.C. with its Gateway location and profitable grow-ops. But it's way more than that, isn't it?

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UNSTABLE GANG SCENE UNIQUE TO B.C.

Composition of organized crime groups constantly shifting due to convenient location and profitable grow-ops, police say

PATRICK BRETHOUR
With files from Justine Hunter in Victoria
THE GLOBE AND MAIL - October 24, 2007

VANCOUVER -- A lethal intersection of American guns, sea routes to Asia and rapidly proliferating marijuana grow-ops has given rise to a volatile gang scene in British Columbia, police say.

In other parts of Canada, established gangs provide some measure of stability to their illegal industries - {Snip} ...

"What we have here is a phenomenon unlike anywhere else in Canada," said Sergeant Shinder Kirk of B.C.'s Integrated Gang Taskforce, a police group established two years ago in the wake of a slew of slayings in the Indo-Canadian community.

There are 129 gangs active in B.C. Sgt. Kirk said mid-level gangs in particular are seeking to establish themselves.

Younger street-level groups frequently shift and disband, making them harder to track.

What they all have in common is a profit motive built on B.C.'s massive marijuana exports, which allow gangs to smuggle hard drugs and high-powered guns into Canada, he said.

The geography of the Lower Mainland plays a big role in British Columbia's growing gang problem, Sgt. Kirk said. Ports provide ready access to Asia, and the U.S. border is only a few kilometres away. And grow-ops are proliferating, giving gangs every incentive to resort to violence, even murder, to grab a bigger piece of the profits.

The taskforce was founded because of violence in one community, but the problem of gang life has changed dramatically. Sgt. Kirk said talk of ethnic gangs misses the reality of gang life in B.C., where the malleable composition of criminal groups is the only real constant. Some gang members are poor, some not. Some are dropouts, some are university graduates, he said.

Yesterday, B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal said today's violence stems from complacency of decades past when the deadly lure of gangs was played down. "We keep meeting with people at the grassroots level who are really paying the price for the neglect of the eighties and the nineties where we didn't do our homework. We had plenty of warning at that time that gangs were a part of our culture and we as a society have ignored that, so we have many kids out there who are dysfunctional, who find gang life to be cool."

Rob Gordon, the head of the criminology department at Simon Fraser University ... sees major differences between that earlier era of gang activity and the current one, with the biggest being the enormous profits to be made growing, exporting and selling illegal drugs, mostly marijuana.

Pot may have a benevolent reputation, he said, but any users who aren't growing their own supplies are fuelling the war playing out on the streets of the Lower Mainland. "Ultimately, you're contributing to the violence."

And the level of violence is escalating: There have been high-profile shootings this year, with bullets flying in public places like the Fortune Happiness restaurant, threatening to injure innocent people.

Now, in Surrey, two bystanders were not only killed - they were deliberately murdered.

That indicates that some gangs no longer feel the need to operate in the shadows, a prospect that Dr. Gordon finds deeply worrisome. "It's a very public demonstration of power. We should all be concerned."


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071024.BCGANGS24/TPStory/TPNational/BritishColumbia/

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"We had plenty of warning ... that gangs were a part of our culture and we as a society have ignored that, so we have many kids out there who are dysfunctional, who find gang life to be cool," says B.C.'s attorney-general.

Not so fast, Wally. You're blaming the kids? Aren't you overlooking B.C.'s 21st century failure to guide those kids into some genuine career options with, for example, apprenticeship training? Plus, street kids didn't invent this black market system, so how about looking a bit higher up the chain o'command for Mr Big in Organized Crime? Who is organizing the trans-national drugs-trafficking transportation systems, for starts? - BC Mary.


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Comments:
'Unstable Gang Scene' - that is a mouthful. DO you suppose it has anything to do with the 'highly competitive' market we like to foster here in BC?

'Unstable Gang Scene' - that is a mouthful. DO you suppose it has anything to do with the 'highly competitive' market we seem to want to foster in every aspect of life here in BC?

I guess when you're trying for the brass ring in an environment where the premier of the province thinks it is okay to shrug off a criminal offence and the Attorney General doesn't see any imperative for his own ministry to question clear violations of lobbying legislation (to say nothing of the 'subject' of this Blog) then 'instability' might just possibly be the result.

Even the gangs don’t know their place any more here in the ‘best place on earth’.
 
I hear that a special prosecutor has been appointed (after the police reported out to crown counsel) into Ken Dobell's lobbying 'deficiencies'.

Can another one - to look into Bruce - be far behind?
 
"Ultimately your contributing To The Violence"

Rob Gordon's comments about not growing your own are true indeed. Food for thought for many a British Columbian. Gangs unstable ? How about cartels unstable. White collar crimes seem to be out of control also. A long time ago, pot and cocaine were the beginning of this leg mess. How about BC MLA's and lobbyist's alleged conflicts. The list is long and growing everyday. Ken Dobell finally has a "special" prosecutor looking into his alleged double dipping. I under stand Ken does not believe he is a lobbyist. I heard Graham Bruce believes he is not a lobbyist either. Individuals like these two have some serious problems with ethics and greed. They both should know better-herein "lies" thier problems.

The special prosecutor is Terrence Robertson. Mr. Robertson has done a lot of work for the government,including being a policy advisor to the government and working for ICBC. I just hope he can be independent,unlike directors of ICBC on the Independent committee for MLA pay compensation. I think it would be easy finding a truly independent lawyer to look into Mr. Dobell's problems. I wonder why they did not have KPMG investigate Dobell?

I have been going through the list of conflicted liberal politicians and content consultants on your website lately and the percentage of liberals in trouble is astounding. I hope there is not a mistrial.

I read an article on CanIndia.com( May 4 2007) that reported that the emails regarding Paul Taylor and Brian Kieran were found by the RCMP on Pilothouses computer on Dec. 28 2003. The emails were leaked to the media and other associations and individuals eventually. I would love to know who leaked these emails. Anyone have any thoughts regarding these leaks?
 
Stoewally was at it again. The opposition asked why Dobbel doesn't step aside till the idea of lobying has been settled. Wally went on about how Innocent until proven guilty etc etc. Was a pretty active day in Question period. seems the cost of the Convention Center , now well over 400 million over budget cannot be confirmed by the auditor general even as Minister Taylor said its all because it wasn't a 3P. Voices were raised for sure. DL
 
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Anonymous 2:50,

Man, I've just spent an hour trying to get that CanIndia web-site to show its 16-17 pages ... maybe it's my computer ... whatever ... but I did eventually find the article you mention: "RCMP target aides, says defence lawyers". But it wouldn't copy and paste, and I couldn't print a copy.

So I just read it (odd: no by-line, no source) and realized it's about Kierans boasting to Bornmann that he's got his fishing buddy, Paul Taylor, to think about handing Pilothouse a nice little job @ $6,000. a month, I think. And then realized that I had read all this before, somewhere.

I'm really tired. Being tired, does that explain why I'm getting so darn mixed up here?

Thanks for sending this info. along. I would probably never have found it.

Know something else I really need? The name of the guy who phoned Dave Basi at work (Ministry of Finance) 26 times on his cell phone, summer of 2003, and the conversations got picked up on a wiretap. Seems the RCMP suspected that the caller wasn't just the guy, but the new Mr Big in Organized Crime on the West Coast. And I can't find his name (not enough time lately). I thought his name was Johander Something Bains but that isn't working out on the search engines. Anybody know?

Thanks too to DL. And G. West. And all the others. I surely do appreciate all the good comments coming in lately.

Sure hope there's some progress made in Courtroom 54 tomorrow. I really hope that Robin Mathews is able to be there too.

Robin and Esther are having an exciting evening tonight. They're in the audience at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, watching a young relative in his debut role in Timothy Findly's "The Wars".


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GW is correct.

Special Prosecutor has been appointed to look into Mr. Dobell's alleged 'content consulting'.

In my opinion the issue is not why did Mr. Dobell not register to lobby, but why was he able to lobby at all given the apparent conflicts involved.


(details/timeline at my place)

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Mary, I will try to do a better job on website info. Thank you gazetteer for your work on Mr. Dumbell.

I just discovered by fluke some interesting info on KPMG's report on Paul Taylor. It seems Brian Kieran did some lobbying work for the Certified General Accountants of BC Association. Holeman's website from Feb 15 2005 No Opinion? No Problem. Kieran,Bornmann and Elmhirst worked for this association of number crunchers. Whom did they meet in THE LEG you ask-no other than 240(conflicted)gordi,Gary (hate those collision and glass guys) Collins and others. KPMG has chartered accountants and Certified General Accountants in their ranks. Check out their website (certified general accountants of bc)member profiles regarding a Kpmg forensic accountant ex RCMP officer who spent his last 6 years as head of the RCMP's Victoria Commercial Crime Section. He states "We do two things here: prevent bad things from happening; and when they do happen, work to minimize their impact and help prevent recurrences." Sound familiar-read KPMG's 14 page summary report on ICBC's Paul(I can't remember)Taylor.

More answers tomorrow on your questions regarding all these characters.Mary you were correct in reading about the emails somewhere else. I was concerned about the leak of these emails. Who would benefit most from the release of these emails? The government,the prosecutors,the RCMP,the defence,the accused,enemys of lobbyists,the NDP,enemys of ICBC,enemys of individuals,reporters or just a jilted lover. Maybe a combination of a few. It looks like the crown had better find a few more non-conflicted witness's.
 
You're welcome anon....

A little more up today.

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