Taking Care of Business: Criminal Gang Activity in Canada, Prostitution, Medical Pot

Note:

This is information previously posted on another site; the site is no longer in existence but the information is important in the context of what is happening right now so . . . . . . This is a copy. It was linked to from Sept. 20, 04.

List of Articles:

* Police struggle to keep ahead of pot growers -- 'Disturbing trends': Deadly traps being used to protect huge marijuana crops -- Sept. 20, 2004

* OMG: Police attack motorcyle gangs' PR efforts -- OMG's want to be viewed as "businessmen" and "good for business" -- Aug. 22 2004

* B.C.'s H**** Ang***: Rich and Powerful -- Canada is a haven for the outlaw motorcycle gang, with more members per capita than any other country. B.C's Angels have mounted an effective public-relations campaign that portrays them as harmless motorcycle enthusiasts, but they maintain a fearsome reputation in the criminal underworld -- Sept. 11, 2004

* I had no choice but to kill -- A former member of the 'Indo-Canadian mafia' in B.C. admits he had a hit put out on his boss -- "Bal Buttar, now a 28-year-old blind quadriplegic" has "found God", is talking, but not giving the necessary details -- figures not much more can be done to him -- Sept. 17, 2004

* Gang violence hits home -- The Times Colonist and the Vancouver Sun are investigating organized crime in B.C. in a series of stories. Today we examine the threat of Indo-Canadian gangs -- Sept. 18, 2004

* Thought Provoking: Safe strolls and brothels would reduce risks for prostitutes -- Sept. 17, 2004

* Pot laws need thorough overhaul -- Coleman should be pushing Ottawa for change, not harassing B.C.'s municipal politicians -- Sept. 13, 04

---

Caveat: There may be a bit of information overlap since I started looking for and at this information a few days ago. Also, it would take more time to eliminate repetition than I have available.

Police struggle to keep ahead of pot growers -- 'Disturbing trends': Deadly traps being used to protect huge marijuana crops

Police struggle to keep ahead of pot growers -- 'Disturbing trends': Deadly traps being used to protect huge marijuana crops Tom Blackwell, National Post, September 20, 2004

[. . . . ] Police seized 1.4 million plants in 2003, with a street value of more than $1-billion, up from under 300,000 just eight years earlier, according to a recent report by the RCMP's criminal intelligence directorate.

While much of the public's attention has focused on the indoor grows that have become a bizarre fixture of the urban landscape, the cheaper outdoor crops are fast overtaking them in size.

Some criminals have even begun offering farmers as much as $400,000 to buy their properties, as long as they can move out within days, said Det.-Sgt. Barnum.

Police are also increasingly encountering dangerous defences around the pot fields. Armed guards are posted at some, while others are booby-trapped with spikes, guns hooked up to trip wires, or razor blades taped to plant stalks. "There's a lot of money sitting in the ground, so these guys are taking all the steps necessary to protect their investment," said Det.-Const. Dave Glass of the OPP, a leader of the eradication program in Eastern Ontario.

As Canada rethinks its approach toward soft drugs, police defend their actions as a blow against organized crime groups that have cornered the marijuana business -- and note that users of harder drugs usually start with pot.

Det.-Sgt. Barnum also says new evidence points increasingly to the fact that pot grown in Canada is in effect being traded in the U.S. for smaller quantities of cocaine that is then imported back here. Seizures of coke provincewide soared several-fold to a record of about 100 kilograms last year, he said.

The outdoor grows are even taking an environmental toll. Criminals have dug irrigation ditches and re-routed waterways, causing some marshy areas to completely dry up, said Supt. Mike Gaudreau, the RCMP's organized crime head for the Ottawa region.

Police are trying to strike back. Provincial forces in Ontario and Quebec run eradication programs with the RCMP, while the Mounties take the lead in the other provinces, helped occasionally by Canadian Forces helicopters.

[. . . . ] "The day we don't get 1,000 plants is a bad day," laments Det.-Const. Glass, who admits even their best efforts are a drop in the bucket. "We feel sad, dejected that we didn't do what we set out to do." [. . . . ]


OMG: Police attack motorcyle gangs' PR efforts -- OMG's want to be viewed as "businessmen" and "good for business" -- Aug. 22 2004

There is a series in the Vancouver Sun but you must be subscribed in order to read articles such as "Outlaw motorcycle gang members and the businesses they own". Maybe in a few days it will be available to general readership. The following article contains some information on the businesses of the OMG's.

Police attack motorcyle gangs' PR efforts Aug. 22 2004, CTV.ca News Staff, with a report from CTV's Hazel MacClement

[. . . . ] Local business people have nothing but good things to say about the gang's members. They're big tippers. And they pay cash.

But no one should have any illusions about where this money comes from. Even as one H**** Ang** contributes to his local charity for the blind, another will be busily importing cocaine by the kilogram for sale on local streets or in local schools.

Ontario drug-treatment officials say cocaine availability in Ontario has never been higher. Strangely, the increase appears to coincide with the Ang**s' arrival in this province.

[. . . . ] The H**** Ang*** are alleged to control the province's huge marijuana trade, valued at $4 billion to $6 billion per year.

In addition, the police say the Ang*** have branched out into legitimate businesses, including:

* Logging companies
* Clothing stores
* Film industry transportation companies
* Coffee shops

Police even allege "direct links" between a high-profile member of the Teamsters Union and the Ang***, although they wouldn't provide any details. [. . . . ]

B.C.'s H**** Ang***: Rich and Powerful -- Canada is a haven for the outlaw motorcycle gang, with more members per capita than any other country. B.C's Angels have mounted an effective public-relations campaign that portrays them as harmless motorcycle enthusiasts, but they maintain a fearsome reputation in the criminal underworld -- Sept. 11, 2004

B.C.'s H**** Ang***: Rich and Powerful Lori Culbert and Neal Hall, Judith Lavoie, Vancouver Sun and Victoria Times Colonist, Sept. 11, 2004

[. . . . ] Police said the Smith case underscores how H**** Ang*** distance themselves from crimes that could put them behind bars for life, instead contracting out to other gangsters -- a marriage of convenience, of sorts.

[. . . . ] The huge profits reaped from the drug trade, police say, have been used by H**** Ang*** to establish legitimate businesses ranging from trucking firms and retail cellular-phone outlets to travel agencies, coffee bars and hip clothing stores.

Members of the public generally do not know they are frequenting businesses owned by H**** Ang*** members, since police chose for years not to publicize that information.

And many H**** Ang*** use nominees -- trusted associates who register companies in their names -- to hide business assets, police say.

Vancouver police chief Jamie Graham vowed to "shine the light" on H**** Ang*** activity when he took over as chair last August of the national strategy to combat outlaw motorcycle gangs for the Canadian Association of Chief of Police.

The public is also affected by the hundreds of H**** Ang*** "associates" -- a network of friends of club members who have been known to infiltrate the country's ports, phone companies, the post office and other government offices where private information can be obtained about citizens who run afoul of the Angels.

"The ports is an example where they use their associates to facilitate criminal activity," said Inspector Andy Richards, in charge of the outlaw motorcycle gang unit within the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, the successor to the Organized Crime Agency of B.C.

"The telephone company, or Shaw Cable or ICBC, that's an example where they've just got this wide-range of contacts ... where they can just make a phone call and get something done, if they need to, for example, run a licence plate," Richards said.

[. . . . ] But not all the old-timers are members just for the camaraderie. Some are masters of setting up shell companies to manipulate the stock market in what are called "pump and dump" schemes -- buying shares to drive up price, then selling before the price begins dropping, police say.

[. . . . ] Some officers feel their superiors blew two rare chances in the past decade to turn insiders into informants and bust some top-level H**** Ang*** and other high-echelon gangsters.

One of the most shocking examples of how police dropped the ball was the Western Wind debacle, detailed in the recent book The Road to Hell: How the Biker Gangs are Conquering Canada. Written by Julian Sher and William Marsden, the book explains how the RCMP in B.C. had a chance to nail drug-dealers for $330 million worth of cocaine when a Vancouver Island fisherman offered to help the Mounties intercept a drug shipment between Colombians and the H**** Ang*** aboard the vessel Western Wind, which was headed for Victoria.

The fisherman wanted to be paid $1 million and be placed in witness protection, but the RCMP declined the offer; U.S. authorities intercepted the boat loaded with more than two tonnes of cocaine, but no one was ever charged, says the book, which contains sharp criticism of the RCMP's handling of the botched case.

One of those who worked on the Western Wind file was former RCMP officer Pat Convey, now an inspector with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit. Convey was among those critical in the book of the handling of the case. "It happened and I'm not going to go into it again," he said in an interview. "Yes, I got my knuckles rapped [for speaking out in the book]. I'm not in the RCMP any more." [. . . . ]

Note that last sentence. It has happened to others who were doing their jobs.

Link and other articles:

If you get the Vancouver Sun, check for Angels' B.C. holdings are extensive -- subscriber only content

In the 3900-block of East Hastings in Burnaby, you can buy a cappuccino at Big Shots Cafe and go across the street to get the latest hip-hop styles at Digstown clothing.

Check for these articles in the Vancouver Sun series:

Sept. 17, 04 "GANG SLAYINGS: A former Indo-Canadian gangster has details on a series of unsolved murders"

Sept. 18, 04 "Young & violent: Drug-smuggling and the extreme violence of Indo-Canadian gangs"

There may be information additional to or different from the following article which was in the National Post.


I had no choice but to kill -- A former member of the 'Indo-Canadian mafia' in B.C. admits he had a hit put out on his boss -- "Bal Buttar, now a 28-year-old blind quadriplegic" has "found God", is talking, but not giving the necessary details -- figures not much more can be done to him -- Sept. 17, 2004

I had no choice but to kill -- A former member of the 'Indo-Canadian mafia' in B.C. admits he had a hit put out on his boss Kim Bolan, CanWest News Service; (The Vancouver Sun), Sept. 17, 2004

[. . . . ] In the mid-1990s, Johal founded a shadowy, five-member hit squad called "the Elite," which is responsible for 25 to 30 murders, Buttar said, refusing to name any team members.

Johal controlled the Elite, but would pass that control to Buttar and others at various times, he said.

Johal ordered Buttar to arrange the July, 1998 Vancouver murder of Vinuse News MacKenzie and the unsuccessful October, 1998 attempt on the life of Johal associate Peter Gill, he said.

"I didn't want to do this job that Bindy gave me to do. Before, when I was in jail with Bindy, Bindy told me you are going to be the one underneath me. You listen to me. If you take care of things at your end, I'll be happy with you, brother. If you f--- me over, I'll kill you. Right."

It was the Elite Buttar turned to in December, 1998 to gun down Johal at a Vancouver nightclub.

Buttar said he also used the Elite "a few times" more after he took over Johal's criminal empire.

He admitted to being "the middleman" who arranged for the Elite to kill 25-year-old Kuldip Singh in September, 1999. Buttar said the other victim in the Richmond shooting, Vikash Naidu, was not the target. [. . . . ]

"The elite is still out there," Buttar said. "I'm still friends with them."

Despite all the murders of Indo-Canadian mafia kingpins, Buttar believes the problem of gangsterism in his community is increasing.

All of the crew members trained by Johal and later Buttar have formed their own crews.

"All these guys are dying over greed, power. They want to go create their own power struggle. That is what it is -- a power struggle. Jump on top real fast. You know if you jump on top real fast, these people make you lots of money," he said.

There is much more in this article on the Indo-Canadian mafia and how it works.


Gang violence hits home -- The Times Colonist and the Vancouver Sun are investigating organized crime in B.C. in a series of stories. Today we examine the threat of Indo-Canadian gangs -- Sept. 18, 2004

Gang violence hits home -- The Times Colonist and the Vancouver Sun are investigating organized crime in B.C. in a series of stories. Today we examine the threat of Indo-Canadian gangs. Gerard Young, Times Colonist, Sept. 18, 2004

Canada's co-ordinated criminal investigation service has all sorts of intelligence on groups such as biker gangs, Eastern Europeans, Asian gangs and the Mafia. But less is known about Indo-Canadian criminal groups which tend to be loosely based packs of family or close friends.

They are usually lower level drug dealers, a bit more sophisticated than those at the street level. And they seem to come from a far different background than most criminals, said Charlton.

Rideout refers to the young male Indo-Canadian criminals as "mama's boys" who often live at home or close to parents.

"One moment they are involved in crime and the next they are sitting down to dinner with the extended family," he said.

These close ties to community may be what allows Indo-Canadian criminals to keep a lower profile than others such as the H**** A*****, said Sgt. Bob Martin, head of Victoria police's four-member gang unit. One unit member is responsible for monitoring Indo-Canadian crime movement.

[. . . . ] Although there is speculation, it is not entirely clear why Indo-Canadian criminals are frequenting Greater Victoria.

It's generally not that they are laying low. Intelligence indicates those facing possible retribution for matters such as stealing drugs from other gangs head to India for a few months to avoid the heat.

[. . . . ] While some criminals come from an impoverished or rough childhood, the reverse is often the case for Indo-Canadians who enjoy fast cars and pockets full of money despite not having jobs.

Their hard-working parents may have spoiled them, allowing them to drift toward crime out of boredom, a desire to live in the fast lane or youthful bravado, said Charlton.

Whatever else they get into, there is a common thread running through most of their activities.

"It all boils down to drugs," Martin said, saying the violence and other crimes are the side effects.

Overwhelmingly, the fighting or shootings occurs between Indo-Canadians. [. . . . ]

Link to see the information on B.C.'S ORGANIZED CRIME FAMILIES including the following:

OUTLAW MOTORCYCLE GANGS/H**** A*****
ASIAN
EASTERN EUROPEAN
INDEPENDENTS AND INDO-CANADIANS
TRADITIONAL(ITALIAN-BASED) ORGANIZATIONS


Thought Provoking: Safe strolls and brothels would reduce risks for prostitutes -- Sept. 17, 2004

Safe strolls and brothels would reduce risks for prostitutes Vancouver Sun, Sept. 17, 2004

You will have to link to the entire article for information on why targetting pimps and johns apparently does not work. Put this together with the article on the "businesses" our OMG's are engaged in and it seems that, to accomplish anything would require a massive infusion of police officers and money -- as well as will.

Note who is no longer an RCMP officer in B.C.'s H**** Ang***: Rich and Powerful Lori Culbert and Neal Hall, Judith Lavoie, Vancouver Sun and Victoria Times Colonist, September 11, 2004.

Didn't ex RCMP Staff Sgt. Stenhouse make recommendations on how to deal with these "businessmen"?

[. . . . ] The decision to cease laying bawdy-house charges seems to have had a positive effect in that it forced prostitutes indoors where they're relatively safe. Yet the most desperate prostitutes and the ones who face the greatest risk of abuse -- addicts who turn tricks to get money for drugs (survival sex) -- are unlikely to be hired by an escort agency.

So the most desperate prostitutes are driven back to the street, where their desperation grows. In an ideal world, no prostitutes would have to work the street to survive, but despite the best efforts of social workers, some prostitutes remain there.

Recognizing this reality, the creation of a "safe stroll" -- an outside area where prostitutes can legally ply their trade -- could literally save the lives of the most disadvantaged prostitutes.

Although most North American experiments with safe strolls and red- light districts have failed, the failure is largely the result of the community and police taking a hands-off approach. In Holland, police, social workers and medical personnel play an active role within red-light districts, which ensures the safety of the most disadvantaged prostitutes, provides them with resources to get off the street and makes it easier to find underage prostitutes.

There will be considerable community opposition to the creation of safe strolls, but like regulated brothels, strolls already exist -- they're just not safe. Legal reform that recognizes indoor prostitution and safe strolls won't legitimize prostitution, but could help prostitutes to leave the street and in so doing, save their lives. [. . . . ]

Pot laws need thorough overhaul -- Coleman should be pushing Ottawa for change, not harassing B.C.'s municipal politicians -- Sept. 13, 04

Pot laws need thorough overhaul -- Coleman should be pushing Ottawa for change, not harassing B.C.'s municipal politicians Times Colonist, September 13, 2004

To a tough former cop like Solicitor General Rich Coleman, watching people buying pot over the counter is an affront.

Coleman says it's still against the law for marijuana to be sold, but that's not entirely true. The sale of marijuana for medical purposes is legal. But because the government hasn't been able to supply the drug to those who need it, the Ontario Court of Appeal has essentially said they can get it wherever they can find it.

So "compassion clubs" have been operating openly in Victoria and Vancouver, distributing pot to users who simply are asked to sign a bit of paper saying they need it for medical purposes. Police in Vancouver last week finally began charging some, but when police in Victoria have laid charges the courts have stayed them.

[. . . . ] Everyone knows the law has to be changed. Distribution for medical purposes is a shambles. One-third of patients acquiring marijuana grown under Health Canada supervision are sending it back because it's too weak and burns too hot.

In Quebec, the government is pardoning first-time possessors of small amounts of pot. Statistics Canada says almost three in 10 teenagers are using it. And the law is being enforced so arbitrarily that while store-owners are not being prosecuted for selling the drug, others are being sent to prison for three months for passing a joint around.

Decriminalizing possession of a few grams won't stop trafficking. Users will still be breaking the law. Enforcement will go up because police will feel the punishment is more appropriate. Fines will be as arbitrary as convictions are today. [. . . . ]