Pubdate: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2007, Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: http://torontosun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457 Author: Rob Lamberti, Sun Media Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) GANG 'TAKEN DOWN' 11-Month Operation Ends With More Than 80 Arrests In the fifth campaign against highly organized street gangs, Toronto Police took down the Driftwood Crips early yesterday. Though the gang that took years to build its criminal organization, police needed a little more than 35 minutes to arrest the bulk of more than 80 people, dismantling a group that was brazen and emboldened by the silence of an intimidated community, Chief Bill Blair said. "I hoping today that they are feeling a little less bold and a little less brazen," he said. "I hope they realize the communities they terrorized are fed up and have had enough, and are going to help the police." 'Significant Threat' Blair said there are about 25 gangs in Toronto that are considered criminal enterprises dealing in drugs and firearms. The Driftwood Crips are in that category, he said. "We believe we have removed a very dangerous element in that neighbourhood (Jane St.-Finch Ave.)," Blair said. "The group we have taken down are a significant threat, or were a significant threat, to that community. "We are getting a lot more co-operation," he said, citing speedy murder arrests and successful gang investigations. A police source said the Driftwood Crips were an "active criminal organization" busy ripping each other off. Different factions were staging home invasions against other factions, stealing cash and drugs, the source said. "They fall under the same umbrella ... but they're money motivated," the source said. "With the amount of shootings and criminal activity, there were next on the list (to be dismantled)." Blair said police have taken away the gang's weapons and hopefully their wealth. He expects the arrests to garner the same boost in the quality of life in the community as occurred in other neighbourhoods where police dismantled local gangs. About five hours before police launched their 5 a.m. attack on the Driftwood Crips and its rival internal factions, a number of shots were fired in the neighbourhood. No one was injured as far as authorities know, a police source said. The .22-calibre revolver used was recovered in the afternoon from a Driftwood Ct. townhouse, along with a .38-calibre revolver that had been recently used, a pellet gun with a blue bandana tied to the handle, and 40 rounds of ammunition. Also seized yesterday was a sawed-off shotgun, a .357-Magnum pistol, a .38-calibre handgun and a 9-mm handgun. The Jane-Finch community is divided into two main gang camps, the North Side or Up Top, which is Crips, and the South Side, or Down Bottom, which is Bloodz, divided by Finch. They in turn are further divided into neighbourhoods, where the North Side has areas known as G-Side, Courtz, Shoreshot and TB. The lower part is divided into areas such as Y-Block, Connectionz, Palis and Lane. The Crips and Bloodz are avowed enemies, although some officers say there is growing co-operation among some members. "This was the gang that represented the greatest threat to the greatest number of people in the City of Toronto," Blair said. It was a role that other organized crime gangs had taken in the past, such as the Galloway Boys, Ardwick Blood Crew, Jamestown Crew and Malvern Crew. 700 Officers The Driftwood Crips "put their hand up and said, 'Pay attention to us, we're a group that needs to be dismantled,' " Blair said. "This was a criminal enterprise investigation." Blair said 700 officers from services including OPP, RCMP, Peel, Durham, Halton, Niagara, Barrie, York, Waterloo, Guelph, London, executed 134 search warrants, 82 at homes and the rest vehicles. Led by 33 heavily armed tactical teams from southern Ontario, the addresses police struck included homes on Stong Ct., Martha Eatonway, San Romanoway, Jane St., Tobermory Dr. Two townhouses on Gosford Blvd. had been raided May 27 in relation to the shooting death of Jordan Manners at C.W. Jefferys high school. Police said 81 people were arrested in the raids yesterday and they expected that number to grow to 90 by the end of the day. More than 100 charges were laid. Among those apprehended were three brothers who police consider to be the leaders of the Driftwood Crips. Two brothers were already in custody. One, Michael Johnson, was arrested about two weeks ago for possessing a 9-mm pistol, while Peter Philip Johnson, 23, was charged in January with second-degree murder in the July 2006 shooting death of Jeffrey Lewis outside Whispers nightclub on Weston Rd. A police source said the trio face gangsterism charges. A source added intelligence gathered in the probe has been passed on to homicide investigators dealing with "more than one murder." Blair said the project began about 11 months ago, taking up "tens and even hundreds of thousands of man-hours of evidence gathering," and so far police have seized 18 firearms, 30 kilos of cocaine, nine kilos of hash oil and several pounds of marijuana. The street value of the drugs is more than $3 million, police estimate. First Of Its Kind Guns and Gangs Insp. Mike Earl said "there is no doubt the arrests prevented violent crimes and possible homicides." He said the gang expanded out of the neighbourhood and grew in sophistication over the years. "It is the first project of its kind ever conducted from our new Integrated Gun and Gang Provincial Operations Centre," Blair said, describing it as organized justice against organized crime. He said the gang's cache of firearms and "the willingness of the alleged participants of this criminal enterprise to use them, has forced many fearful citizens into silence. "We are hopeful that the removal of these gunmen and their weapons from the neighbourhood will reduce the fear." Blair said the seizures and arrests will "deal a significant blow to this source of misery for our most vulnerable neighbourhoods." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman