EDMONTON, CALGARY GANGS FORM 'ALLIANCES'

At a time when Calgary and Edmonton are wrestling with a growing
number of homicides involving Asian gangs, the province's police
forces are reporting that criminals moving between the two cities are
contributing to the violence.

Although competition for turf is driving the violence, the Criminal
Intelligence Service Alberta says in a semi-annual report released
this week that police are documenting increased co-operation between
criminal organizations.

"It appears that personality conflicts and confrontations over control
of turf have fuelled violent altercations between trafficking groups
of Asian origin in their respective cities," said CISA, which is a
central bureau that collects and distributes information on crime
trends among Alberta's law enforcement agencies.

"Alliances have been noted between Edmonton and Calgary
groups."

"Developments of what appears to be 'mutual assistance pacts' have
been observed, as investigations reveal that street gang members from
Edmonton are involved in violent incidents in Calgary. Calgary
gangsters appear to travel to Edmonton for the same purpose," the CISA
report says.

Six homicides in Calgary this year are believed to have connections to
gang activity -- either as part of an ongoing battle between two
gangs, or as a result of other criminal activities.

As the Herald first reported in July, an Edmonton-based gang, the
Crazy Dragons, has begun operating in Calgary and their presence has
ratcheted up tensions in the city's underworld.

While authorities didn't comment specifically on the Dragons, they
agree criminal groups are extending their reach for a variety of reasons.

"We're seeing the drug business moving back and forth. We're also
seeing (criminals) in other provinces and other smaller centres," said
Insp. Harv Emter, CISA's director.

A joint-forces operation code-named Project Kidrock recently a broke
up a group dealing drugs in and around Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and
Brooks.

Police in those three communities arrested 13 people calling
themselves "the D.C. Boys" or "The Kids" and seized a kilogram of cocaine.

The trend is unwelcome, but not necessarily surprising considering the
communities represented untapped territory for criminals who are
always seeking to maximize their profit, said a senior investigator
from Lethbridge.

"When they recognize a marketplace, they come," said Insp. Tom
McKenzie of the Lethbridge Regional Police Service.

McKenzie added that the label "organized crime" today goes far beyond
the traditional notions of Mafia families or large cartels. Groups now
tend to tailor their illegal activities and associations depending on
what will make the most money and provide the least chance of getting
caught.

"There seems to be a crossover in the drug world, just as there is in
auto theft and in other commodity-based crimes," McKenzie said.

But not everyone is willing to coexist: in addition to the violence in
Calgary, CISA said turf battles between two established aboriginal
gangs, the Indian Posse and Redd Alert, are fuelling violence in
communities.

"For some time now, Hobbema has been the battleground for opposing
gangs vying for control of the lucrative drug market and in recent
months it has been the focus of an unprecedented escalation of
violence," CISA said in its report.

Although criminals are becoming mobile in search of profit, they are
also on the move to avoid pressure from police, said the head of the
Calgary Police Service's organized crime section.

The challenge, added Insp. Joan McCallum, is ensuring law enforcement
agencies share intelligence in a timely way.

"The co-operation between all the agencies in this province has
greatly increased within the past two years," she said.

Gang-Related Activities in Calgary

2005

- - July 9: Chuong (David) Tran, 21, and Dat Le, 22, are fatally shot by
a hooded gunman while they sit in an SUV in the parking lot of a
northeast gas station. The gunman flees into a waiting minivan. Le and
Tran were known gang members, and Le survived a previous shooting. No
arrests have been made.

- - May 20: Peter Huynh, 19, is fatally shot while sitting in his Honda
Civic at a gas station in the southeast community of Forest Lawn. No
one has been charged.

- - Feb. 26: John Pheng, 23, is gunned down and killed by a group of
assailants at the Shaken Drink Room on the 17th Avenue S.W. strip.
Gunfire spills onto the street outside, but no bystanders are hurt. No
arrests made to date.

- - Jan. 29: Long Dinh, 33, dies following a knife attack by a group of
men dressed in black who force their way into the Warehouse nightclub
on 10th Avenue S.W. No arrests have been made.

2004

- - July 8: Edmontonian Joey Yu, 33, is last seen near Wetaskiwin.
Hunters find Yu's skeletal remains in Sibbald Flats, 50 kilometres
west of Calgary, on Oct. 9. Police say Yu wasn't a known gang member,
but associated with people who were. No charges have been laid.

2003

- - July 17: Jonathan Wade Pederson disappears and is presumed murdered.
Pederson was a founder of the Deaths Hand Motorcycle Club and unnamed
sources say he was likely killed for running afoul of the Hells Angels.

- - March 15: Michael Oduneye fires four shots at a green Jeep Grand
Cherokee occupied by Tri (John) Nguyen and Donna Cheung. Oduneye is
now serving eight years in prison after pleading guilty to weapons
charges in connection with this incident and a Dec. 23, 2002, shooting
at Southcentre mall.

2002

- - Dec. 29: Linju (Billy) Ly, 19, is shot to death while shoveling his
sidewalk in the 900 block of Robert Road N.E. in Renfrew. Police
believe the murder is gang-related. Murder victim Dat Le, who was to
die in July 2005, is considered a suspect but never charged.

- - Dec. 29: In another gang-related incident on the same day, Vinh Le,
29, is gunned down in the Auxiliary Club at 512 6th St. S.W. The
killing is unsolved.

- - March 7: Joseph Christopher Clarke, 41, who had ties to outlaw
motorcycle gangs, is shot dead as he sits in his truck. Kelly Patrick
Palmer, who was driving the vehicle carrying the gunman, pleads guilty
to manslaughter in 2003 and is sentenced to five years in prison. No
one has been charged with pulling the trigger.

Compiled by Aideen McCormick