GANGS GETTING A 'FREE RIDE' AS POLICE STRUGGLE

Police are frustrated that an estimated 72 per cent of organized gangs
in B.C. may be getting a free ride.

Organized crime groups or gangs, identified by police in B.C., have
more than doubled in the past two years - but the number of police
officers to fight them is lagging behind.

Abbotsford Police Chief Ian Mackenzie said organized crime is one of
the top five public issues and it is a problem of concern for all
police forces in the province.

In fact, 72 per cent of organized gangs may operate "free of
significant law enforcement attention" because of a shortage of police
resources, according the RCMP "E" Division's report called The Scope
and Impact of Organized Crime in B.C. published in June, 2005.

The illicit drug trade generates an estimated $5 billion to $6 billion
a year in B.C. and it's growing by leaps and bounds under the scheming
leadership of criminals.

Organized crime is a growing threat - with murders, vicious assaults
and kidnappings revolving around a lucrative illicit drug trade - not
just in Abbotsford, but all over B.C.

The problem is far more pervasive than it was a generation ago or even
a few years ago, according to the RCMP report, of which Mackenzie concurs.

There are 108 organized crime groups or gangs known to police in B.C.
Most of these organized criminal groups are operating in the Lower
Mainland.

Police are frustrated by a lack of resources.

According to police data, 82 gangs were identified last year and there
were 52 gangs in 2003.

Some of the report's key findings are:

- - The major categories of organized crime are: outlaw motorcycle
gangs and Asian, Indo-Canadian, East European and independent
organized crime groups.

- - Marijuana cultivation is the most pervasive and lucrative crime
activity leading to spinoff crimes such as physical violence and money
laundering.

- - Methamphetamine production and trafficking is expanding rapidly.

The incidence of grow-ops in B.C. is three times the national average
and the operators are increasingly becoming more sophisticated.

About 95 per cent of the marijuana is exported out of B.C.

The street value of marijuana confiscated from grow-ops is about $1
billion annually - with police busting only an estimated 20 per cent
of the operations.

"Marijuana, alone, appears on the same order of magnitude as tourism
or the fishery as a second-rank industry in the province and dwarfs
(by comparison), the film industry," says the RCMP report.

Trafficking of cocaine and heroin and organized frauds are enduring
features of the criminal scene.