Pubdate: Sun, 27 Jul 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

GANG WAR HAS DEADLY LEGACY

High School Insults Breed A Dozen Killings

It started out with teenage insults and fights over petty drug profits.

Seven years later, it is a deadly feud between two increasingly 
powerful criminal gangs, fought with guns on the streets of Calgary.

There have been 12 known killings linked to clashes between the Fresh 
Off the Boat gang and its rivals, the Fresh Off the Boat Killers, since 2001.

Although investigators have publicly classified most of the homicides 
as gang-related, the Calgary Police Service has a policy against 
naming the groups involved.

The Calgary Herald used its own research, along with court 
transcripts and parole documents, to link the cases and determine the 
gang affiliation of each victim.

Following a shooting last week that wounded an associate of murdered 
FOB member Roger Chin, Calgary's police chief acknowledged there will 
be more violence between the warring gangs.

What has investigators especially concerned is the possibility that 
innocent bystanders will be killed in the crossfire of a shooting on 
city streets.

"It's got to the point where it's shoot on sight between these two 
groups, and they have no regard for the public's safety," said Acting 
Staff Sgt. Martin Schiavetta of the organized crime operations centre.

Today's violence is mainly driven by personal hatreds among a group 
of former high school buddies who were involved in supplying small 
amounts of cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy to rave parties. They were 
"dial-a-dopers," using cellphones and pagers to receive orders and 
arrange delivery.

Squabbling over money led some members of the original gang, FOB, to 
quit and form their own group. They became known as the FOB Killers.

It wasn't a clean break, because the former friends still moved in 
the same small circles, setting the stage for insults and violent 
fights -- often with knives or blunt weapons -- whenever they crossed paths.

Things turned deadly for the first time on Feb. 17, 2002, when FK 
member Vuthy Kong fatally stabbed Adam Miu in a fight outside a 
karaoke bar on 7th Avenue S.W. Miu, 18, wasn't a gang member, but his 
girlfriend, Gwen Piedad, used to date one of Kong's friends. The 
fight started because Kong's group was angry Piedad hadn't joined 
them that evening, calling her a "ditcher."

To an outsider, the insult may sound juvenile and the gang names may 
border on comical, but were deadly serious to those involved.

Schiavetta said that dispute was a turning point between the groups. 
Before 2002 was over, they were shooting at each other.

Today, many of the original players are dead or in jail, but that has 
done little to stop the feud or cripple the gangs' criminal dealings.

"They have evolved in terms of criminal sophistication and in the 
level of violence in the past seven years," said Schiavetta.

The former small-time dial-a-dopers now have links with gangs in 
other cities, allowing them to traffic drugs in larger quantities and 
easily acquire weapons.

The veteran gang members who are left have moved up to the 
"wholesale" level, and new members have bolstered the ranks of both 
gangs on the street.

Although the personal hatreds still exist among the old guard, the 
presence of new recruits means the gangs' existence, the feud and 
their criminal business now transcend the original people involved -- 
and all will likely outlive them.

"I would absolutely expect more shootings. It's been going on for a 
few years now, I would be extremely naive to tell you I wouldn't 
expect more," police Chief Rick Hanson said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom