Pubdate: Wed, 25 Feb 2009 Source: Valley Echo, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2009 The Valley Echo Contact: http://www.invermerevalleyecho.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2140 DRUGS EQUATE TO GANG PRESENCE All anyone has to do is listen to the news broadcasts, or read a newspaper and they will see references to gang-related crime. Is this issue confined to the "big cities" or are rural and smaller communities affected too? That is the question I want to discuss. When people hear the word "gang," several images come to mind. Most of them fuelled by television/movie images of archetypical criminals. But that is not always the reality. In many cases, criminal gangs are loosely associated individuals who come together to form a common purpose. That common purpose is to make money the quickest way possible with the least risk and exposure to them. Not every organized crime group has a clubhouse or a ritual means of gaining entry. All it takes is three main people to facilitate criminal offences that would result in a material benefit to them. The most common criminal enterprise is drugs. The production, distribution and sale of drugs is the lifeblood of many urban and rural based gangs. They want a monopoly on the market, and they will use whatever means they can to ensure it. Thefts, burglaries, intimidation, threats, violence and even death if it makes good business sense. to them. Other activities that criminal groups or gangs engage in are: distribution of counterfeit merchandise, which impacts the local, provincial and national economies. If you are a legitimate business owner selling a product, how can you compete on a level playing field with a competition who plays by no rules? Human trafficking is another gang heavy criminal enterprise. This crime profits on human misery as it entails the recruitment, transportation and harbouring of persons for the purpose of exploitation. Most commonly, it means the unfortunate souls at the bottom of the chain are used as forced slave labour or prostitutes, but neither term adequately portrays what these people endure at the hands of the traffickers. Well, you might say, that doesn't happen in a small area like ours. No? Know anyone who sells, or uses drugs, even in a social setting? These things are not 'over the counter' prescriptions. Someone with a connection to organized crime produced, and sold them to whomever offered them to you. Did you think that Health Canada inspected the product first? What exactly do you know about where the stuff came from? What do you know about the person who offered the drugs? Do you think you pay high enough insurance rates? As long as organized crime groups can steal cars and sell them at a lower price than a bona fide dealer, get used to it. Think about this... what if nobody bought the cheaper car, or the drugs, or had a desire to lower labour costs by using illegal workers. But that is not realistic as 'vice' has been part of human nature since the Dead Sea was on the 'sick list.' But the majority of Canadians are decent, law abiding folks, and for them, the best defence against organized crime is to not turn a blind eye. Ask yourself some questions, like: How does this person seem to have more money than their salary would allow? Does this person have a real job? Why all the cash? How do they afford all their new toys? Sometimes, there is a perfectly good and reasonable explanation. Perhaps they work hard at excellent paying legitimate jobs. But there can be other factors to consider such as: what is their education level? Education (or rather the lack of it) and crime seem to go hand in hand when one considers that the majority of federal inmates enter the prison system without basic literacy skills. How long have they worked at that job? So perhaps you are asking yourselves - do we see this locally? The honest answer is, to some extent, yes. Like all communities across Canada, we have our issues with drugs and its related crime, like burglaries, thefts, stolen cars and assaults. The Columbia Valley RCMP is working diligently to gather information and evidence to identify, charge and prosecute the people who produce and provide drugs in our area. So what can the average citizen do? Trust your instincts and remember that we can only be effective together. Neither you nor the police can resolve this problem acting or working alone. Breaking silence exposes the criminals. Keeping silent is what they are counting on. For more information, please check out the following site: RCMP's Drug and Organized Crime Awareness. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin