Pubdate: Wed, 30 Jul 2014
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2014 Postmedia Network
Contact:  http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Manisha Krishnan
Page: A3

NOTORIOUS RED SCORPIONS LIKELY IN ALBERTA TO STAY

Police Have to 'Kick Their Butts,' Expert Says

They're savvy, greedy and extremely violent, and now that members of 
the Red Scorpion gang are calling Alberta home, it'll be tough to get 
them to leave, according to gang experts.

A law enforcement team recently busted four people linked to the 
B.C.-based gang on a number of weapons and drugs charges tied to a 
trafficking ring that's been operating out of Calgary, Red Deer and 
Airdrie for two years.

In a news conference Monday, police called the arrests a "significant 
dent in this organization." But Rob Gordon, a criminology professor 
and gangs expert at Simon Fraser University isn't so sure.

"No one is ever going to shut it down," said Gordon.

"The police know, despite all their posturing, all they're really 
doing is keeping a lid on things."

There are several reasons the Red Scorpions, a notorious gang known 
for its dial-a-dope lines, are drawn to Alberta. The province's 
wealth means there's a high demand for drugs, particularly in the 
oilpatch. But Gordon said the legalization of marijuana in Washington 
State is pushing gangsters eastward in search of access to states 
that will still import B.C. bud.

"There's no point anymore in shipping marijuana into Washington 
State. It's coming the other way."

Retired Calgary police officer Henry Hollinger, who spent most of his 
25-year career investigating local gangs the FOBs and the FKs, said 
there was a time when B.C. drug dealers wouldn't cross into Alberta 
for fear of stiff penalties. Instead, Calgary gang members would pick 
up product from groups such as the Red Scorpions and United Nations 
in B.C., and bring it back here. But the crackdown on the FOBs and 
FKs meant many of those connections were lost, he said.

"They started infiltrating Calgary and Alberta to take over the gang 
and drug business themselves."

Hollinger suspects the Red Scorpion presence in Alberta is minimal 
right now, but said it'll be up to police and the courts to stomp it 
out with harsh sentencing.

"The sentences here are two or three times higher than what you get 
in B.C.," he said. "This is going to be a growing problem if the 
police don't kick their butts right now."

Gordon said the Red Scorpions essentially act as a corporation, and 
will continue to expand as long as there's money to be made. Members 
were recently raided in the Philippines for setting up a 
manufacturing plant there.

"If they were trading publicly, I would probably buy some shares."

Arrests, he said, simply create a vacuum for other gangsters to move in.

Although marijuana is their cash crop, the Red Scorpions move a 
variety of drugs; the Alberta raids retrieved 512 grams of meth, 517 
grams of cocaine and 52 grams of heroin.

In B.C., the group is known for its bloody rivalry with the United 
Nations, and is currently on trial for a six-person slaying known as 
the Surrey Six that took place in a Surrey condo in 2007.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom