Pubdate: Sat, 13 Dec 2008
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2008 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Jason Van Rassel, Staff Writer

GANG NETWORK EXTENDS TO B. C.

The shadowy dealings of two warring Calgary gangs came under rare
public scrutiny this week during a hearing for a local gangster facing
deportation.

Police are usually reluctant to discuss the gang affiliations of local
criminals and even have a policy against naming the groups, but
investigators spared few details while making the case for deporting
Jackie Tran, who was identified as a member of the FOB Killers.

Among the revelations was that the FOB Killers, also known as FK, have
ties with the United Nations gang, a notorious group from B. C.'s
Lower Mainland.

"If you use a business model, their home, or parent company, is here
in B.C. and they may be setting up franchises elsewhere,"said Sgt.
Shinder Kirk of the B. C. Integrated Gang Task Force.

A Calgary gang investigator identified an FK member as an associate of
the UN gang, but it's not clear whether that signals active
co-operation.

Calgary's gang war started after a group of high school friends
dealing drugs broke up and formed two rival gangs that became known as
Fresh Off the Boat and the FOB Killers.

The conflict quickly escalated from brawls with bats and knives into
dozens of shootings that have resulted in at least 12 homicides since
2002.

The former "dial-a-dopers"who used cellphones and pagers to sell and
deliver small amounts of marijuana and ecstasy have grown into two
sophisticated criminal groups with ties to gangs in other cities and
outside the province.

Investigators have also observed FOB members with organized criminals
in the Vancouver area, and the gang has long-standing ties with the
Edmonton based Crazy Dragons gang.

But a Calgary gang investigator, Sgt. Gavin Walker, testified that the
alliances --and the rivalries--extend from the streets into the prisons.

Walker said Tran, 26, needed several stitches to close a head wound
after an-other inmate assaulted him at the Calgary Remand Centre.

Tran's assailant was an FOB associate who shared a cell with a member
of the gang.

As is often the case with gang members, Tran didn't co-operate with
authorities or seek charges against his attacker. Instead, staff at
the remand centre heard him threaten the other man.

"(Tran) said something along the lines of 'Wait until you're on the
streets . . . we'll get you then,' " Walker said.

That mentality means gang members are unwilling to co-operate with
police when someone is hurt or killed.

Combined with the gangs' fluid structure -- there are no chapters or
identifying tattoos that signify member-ship -- it has been difficult
for police to disrupt their business and end the violence.

Lawyers representing Tran disputed authorities' claim that he is a
gang member, based partially on the inability of police to gather
first-hand knowledge of the gangs' inner workings.
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