Foreseeable gang war

So it appears we have a gang war on our hands. A Montreal-style Rock Machine versus Hells Angels blow-em-up kill fest. This here is big-boy gang fighting, not like the amateur north end drive-by nonsense perpetrated by wanna-be gang bangers wearing hoodies and DC sneekers.

How could this have happened? Well, son, it all started back in February 2006 with something called Project Defense. The Manitoba Integrated Organized Crime Task Force, along with the RCMP, Winnipeg Police Service and Brandon Police Service, conducted raids and arrested 13 people including high-ranking Hells Angel Ian Matthew Grant. To accomplish this task, they paid an informant with a "less-than-savoury background" over half a million dollars. (source)

Then in December of 2007, Defense was followed up by Project Drill, in which there were 18 arrests, made possible by paying an informant $650,000 plus expenses, according to court records. (source)

Despite all these arrests, crime continued to escalate. "Many legal experts believe a subsequent rise in Winnipeg street gang crime over the past two years was triggered by the fall of the Hells Angels and an ongoing battle to fill the void and make lucrative profits from the sale of drugs." wrote Mike McIntyre and Jennifer Pawluk in 2009. Perhaps if we made the void larger that might help ... December 2009 was Project Divide, which netted more arrests than the other two combined: 35. Once again, assistance was obtained by purchasing the services of a "longtime criminal" for "at least $500,000 of tax-free money".

Now, in 2011, after paying criminals over $1,650,000 for their assistance and hundreds of thousands more in court costs and witness protection costs, the Hells Angels have been sufficiently neutered to allow the Rock Machine to make a play for our drug market. Hence the shoot-ups and fire bombings.

This was not unforeseeable. I recall some people predicting this outcome back when Project Divide was carried out. Much like overthrowing a corrupt middle-eastern government, unless you can replace it with something better, you risk, in fact, making things worse.

Options:
1) Stop busting the gangs. Let them fight it out and (hopefully) establish a new stable order in the drug underworld.
pros: less violence in the longer term, less money spent on informants, prosecutors and attorneys.
cons: continued violence in the short term, and uninhibited flow of illegal drugs into the community

2) Keep busting the gangs. Follow Projects Defense, Drill and Divide, with Projects Doubtful, Dandelion, Denture Cream, Dampness, Dystopia, etc..
pros: maybe ... just maybe ... the gangs will get the message that Winnipeg is not open for illegal drug business and they will stop trying to infiltrate our city.
cons: but more likely, we will spend millions of dollars and have continued violence on our streets

3) Legalize drugs. A favourite of the Libertarian nut jobs, er, advocates.
pros: easier access to drugs! Wait, I think that's a con. K, forget that. Pros: remove the demand for illegal drugs, thereby permanently neutering the gangs via market forces; Increased tax base with sin taxes on newly legalized drugs.
cons: easier access to drugs. Potential for crippling trade with the U.S.

Tough choices ... What's your favourite option?


also posted/printed in the Winnipeg Free Press

Peace adhors a vacuum

When the U.S. invaded Iraq and ousted the brutal dictator Saddam Hussein, a power void was created that allowed Al Qaeda to establish a presence in the country, and all sorts of other fanatical nut jobs to build their power base and feed ethnic and religious conflict that is still continuing today. Saddam was a ruthless murderer, but his ruthless rule kept the country in some sort of order in spite of all the different factions, tribes and ethnic groups. When he left, Iraq became a much more dangerous place to live.

The Winnipeg Police have apparently take the lessons-not-learned from Iraq and applied them to the Gang War in Winnipeg. From the Free Press:

Police say a pair of newly arrived gangs are at the centre of the brewing battle as they try to fill the "vacuum" created by a major undercover sting operation dubbed "Project Divide" that ended last December. Police used a career criminal-turned secret agent to infiltrate the Hells Angels, resulting in the arrests of 34 high-ranking members and associates. Police say every member of the Zig Zag Crew, the Hells Angels' so-called puppet club, was put behind bars while only a handful of Hells Angels remain free.

Awwwwwwesommmmme. So good to see the Rock Machine moving into town, with their guns and their bombs.

"So, smart guy", you ask, "what's the solution?" While some may advocate legalization of drugs. If drugs were legal, like alcohol, there would be nothing for the gangs to fight over, except for small-ticket things like prostitution and black-market organs. Though I might support legalization of pot, I have a real hard time advocating the legalization of crack, meth, heroin, and other such things.

Truth is, I don't have an answer. Going after the street dealers will not get rid of drugs. I say legalize and tax pot to take a huge chunk out of the market for illegal drugs, and let the Hells Angels control the rest. Or you can keep fighting gang after gang and paying off informant after informant, while people die in the streets. Maybe after 10 years of battle, the enemy will give up and we will be at peace. Maybe Iraq will elect a representative government that will bring all factions together, and settle into peaceful coexistence. Or maybe not.