New Gang In Prince George

Monday, May 07, 2007 04:00 AM

Bar operators in Prince George say they are concerned about a new gang that has moved into the city. The new gang is trying to carve out a piece of the local drug trade.

One bar operator says, "You have no idea just how much money there is in the drug trade in this region. These young people are running around with thousands of dollars in their pockets every day and money to them is just like snow falling."

The new gang is known as the Independent Soldiers. They came here from Kelowna where they set up shop after moving from the lower mainland. The gang is made up of primarily young Indo-Canadian males in those centers, here in Prince George, there is more of a mix.

The Independent soldiers are trying to take over from the Crew, a gang which Police allege has connections to the Hells Angels.

Police allege that the Renegades (an offshoot of the Hells Angels) control the bulk of the present day drug trade in Prince George and the Crew works for the Renegades. Police say they have put so much pressure on the Crew,the group’s operations have been put on the back burner, and the Indepedent Soldiers are stepping in to fill the gap.

The bar operators say these gangs do not fight in the way it used to happen, there is no one-on-one, "Today, they swarm an individual and when it’s over, that person usually suffers major injuries."

"Crack Cocaine is the drug they are pushing" said one bar operator, "there is so much money in this drug and it is easy to push."

The Independent Soldiers surfaced on the radar of Vancouver police in 2004. In 2005 -2006 a total of ten people, mostly Indo Canadians, died in shootings in the greater Vancouver area. Nearly all of those who died were in some way related to the gang members as a fight began over who should control the lucrative drug trade.

It is at this point that police believe the group headed into the Okanagan to tap into a piece of the lucrative drug trade, prostitution, money laundering and property thefts.

In October 2006 police arrested two Independent soldiers for packing a hand gun and a cross bow in that city. Police investigating organized crime say the Indo Canadian gangs rank behind the biker and Asian gangs and they believe that they moved into the rural areas because of their connections with heavy transport trucks and their ability to move drugs easily around the province.

Police sources say in this city, the gang’s core comes from a couple of local youths known to police who have been able to muscle in on the drug trade.

They belong to a fight club and the police say they are tough and ruthless. One RCMP officer said he didn’t know whether this new bunch is in bed with the Hells Angels, who he says still control the drug trade in BC, "but I rather suspect it".

Police sources say the new players are living on the edge "Some of these guys think, Ah!, what the hell I’m going to give it all I got, because I don’t think I’ll live past 30. In one check stop that we made on highway 16 west, we stopped an 18 year old kid who had $8,000 cash in his pocket. He just looked at me and said if you think I’m going to work for minimum wage when I can make this kind of money your crazy."

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Posted on Monday, May 07, 2007 04:00 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: jonnypg on May 7 2007 4:41 AM

There you go judges...better start locking them up before its way out of control!

Posted by: acrider54 on May 7 2007 6:07 AM

Quash them quick

Posted by: wrinkledawg on May 7 2007 6:09 AM

Thats why we need to have a carry and conceal law. Then they can go meet Allah.

Posted by: REALIST on May 7 2007 7:23 AM

Just like I said: cut off one head and a worse one pops up. Next look for an increase in shootings and house fires as the instability created by the recent arrests does not stop the trade only shift it to new players. The police can not win this war. We will now see this new group fight and maime until they re-establish who is who and who they can trust. Our current stratagy just does not work. Like the kids said when the minimum wage does not pay, crime is the answer and why not in a society that has replaced a religious god with the idol of money. Our soceity is sick and we are sheep.

Posted by: ammonra on May 7 2007 7:31 AM

What has Allah got to do with drug dealing. Indo-Canadians in BC are usually either Sikh or Hindu. Neither one has Allah as their God. That is a Muslim term.

Racial profiling like that only serves to trivialize an extremely serious matter. It may make you feel good to spout trite racio-religious quips, but all it does is show your own true self.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on May 7 2007 7:33 AM

Different culture, and a culture we are not able to deal with. Different morals, we are so worried about what Trudeau would think that we are helpless, or at least our police and politicians are. HeeHee!

Posted by: REALIST on May 7 2007 7:46 AM

typical lack of ability to see the real issues.

Posted by: giterdun on May 7 2007 7:52 AM

LETS HERE SOME NAMES AND SEE SOME PICTURES..SCUMBAGS HATE SPOTLIGHTS.

Posted by: owl on May 7 2007 9:11 AM

From Lee Iacocca�s �Where have all the Leaders Gone?� some food for thought from a country that is conducting several wars at the same time, one being the forgotten war on drugs.

�The war on drugs was launched 36 years ago. If they�re not careful, it�s going to turn into the hundred-years war. How�re we doing? We spend around $40 billion a year fighting the war on drugs. A conservative estimate of the total amount we�ve spent would be around one trillion dollars. So, are we winning? Well, we lock up about 2 million people a year � mostly drug users. But every expert analysis of our progress shows the same thing. After 36 years, we have not reduced the quantity of drugs of the consumption of drugs one lousy percentage point.

Wake up, fellas. We�ve lost the war on drugs. But let any politician even suggest that we try a different strategy and he gets accused of being soft on drugs. It�s a hell of a way to run a war.�

Posted by: owl on May 7 2007 9:17 AM

"Different culture, and a culture we are not able to deal with. Different morals"

What a bunch of hate mongering BS. The Irish in the US were thought of the same way, the Italians, the Russians, the Asians ......

Of course those who are pure North Americans do not fit into the group.

Tell me, what have you determined is the racial or national make-up of the Hell's Angels who are supposed to be heading up the whole thing in this province?

Posted by: lmorg on May 7 2007 9:19 AM

I saw one of those guys at Save On a few weeks ago. Couldn't have been more than 22 yrs old shopping with his little bimbo girlfriend who was packing a six month old child. He had on a black t shirt with the words "independant" in white letters encircleing the upper front and back of the shirt. Was dressed in Hip Hop style clothes......FYI so everyone can know what the new face in crime looks like.

Posted by: Palopu on May 7 2007 9:31 AM

We never did get an answer to where have all the Leaders gone. Perhaps it is in the book.

Drugs have been a major problem for much more than 36 years. It was a major problem in the late 40's and early 50's. I suppose it was 36 years ago that the phrase **War on Drugs** was uttered.

One of the biggest problems with drugs and one which we seem to triviliaze is the fact that in order to have a lucrative drug trade you have to have a consumers market. Without the market there is no money to be made.

Do we know who buys all these drugs, how many addicts do we acutally have, where do they get there money, etc; etc; etc; We always assume that all the drugs are bought by the low lifes and that is what keeps the drug trade alive and well, but I suspect it is a much bigger problem than that.

It would seem that education would be our best bet. It worked to a major degree with Cigarettes, and it would work with drugs, however we would have to expose the fact that this problem extends far beyond skid road.

In the meantime the Police should make as many arrests as possible, get these people convicted, and incarcerated. If we can get to the point of **No Tolerance** for drug pushers it would be a start. If this situation is not dealt with, the next phase will be murder, and drive by shootings. Gangs only understand **Force** and if the Police do not stay the course, we lose before we start.

Posted by: ammonra on May 7 2007 10:22 AM

"Do we know who buys all these drugs"

Yes, I think we do. It is much the same people who bought alcohol during prohibition. In other words, average Joe. Marijuana is not sold only to street people. It is grown and raised in quantity for sale to ordinary, everyday people, who want to get a buzz on. That includes teenagers, adults, oldsters, doctors, lawyers, rich people, poor people, in fact, almost every group you can imagine uses it. It is almost as common as tobacco.

Cocaine is somewhat more restricted, I believe, but is still easily available to those who have the money. Ask yourself, who in our society has lots of dispoible income? They buy drugs.

That is the real problem. Drug use is so common it now approaches being a standard part of our society. It is so deeply entrenched it is time to take a whole new tack, and preferably a realistic one, not one based on moralistic control.

Sell drugs in government run liquor stores at prices that undercut criminals, and be done with it. That will reduce the criminal component. I suspect the use component will stay with us no matter what we do.

Posted by: owl on May 7 2007 11:03 AM

"If we can get to the point of **No Tolerance** for drug pushers it would be a start."

It sounds to me as if you either did not read the excerpts from the book or you did not understand them or you did not believe them.

There is no tolerance down south compared to Canada. It has not worked.

And yes, you are right as ar as the fact that drugs have been around for longer than 36 years. You just do not go far enough. They have been around for thousands of years, ever since someone put something into their mouth and discovered that it felt great to them.

We can stop it quite simply. Kill everyone on the spot .... and keep doing so. That will kill people even more quickly than ingesting them.

At least ammonra takes the notion that if it ain't workin' try somethin' else a bit more seriously.

Let's see .... Las Vagas was built in the middle of a desert for gamblers. We could start by building a drug retreat in the Mojave and get direct flights from the PG International airport.

Eventually we'll all be building drug pubs in addtion to liquor pubs.

I wonder what the Hell's Angels would get into then?

Posted by: Jigga on May 7 2007 11:47 AM

lmorg...

Please dont stereotype all of us. FYI, there is a brand name "Independent" that has been around for 20 something years. They manufacture skateboard products. I own a few of these shirts, but trust me, I am the farthest thing from a drug pusher as you can get.

I am also a mid 20's male who wears hip hop clothing. But I am not the new face in crime.

I do not sell drugs, I do not use drugs, and I do not commit any crimes associated with drugs.

I am probably more gainfully employed than many people on this board and I volunteer my time on a regualar basis to try and make our community a better place. I repeat...I am not the new face of crime.

Posted by: thereasonableman on May 7 2007 12:05 PM

My personal opinion is that Prince George is a concentrated enough location that the police CAN be effective. Look at their efforts so far, they have actually disrupted The Crew's operations to a large enough extent that it has actually handicapped them. If they keep up the pressure, they really can have an effect on the drug gangs. There is no other neighboring municipalities to run to, and the operations need to be close to the city core where the majority of the market lies, to be profitable. That limits them to a geographical area. That means it should be like shooting fish in a barrel.

What do we need to do ? As soon as you notice suspicious activity around a house, report it to Crime Stoppers, so that the police can get a search warrant and move in before they get really established.

Knowing what I know about the Hell's Angels, I would really doubt that these two entities are affiliated. I just really doubt it. These new guys are likely affiliated with the same type of bunch that Bindy Johal was associated with. Minority gangs tend to stick to their own, whether it be Indo-Canadian, Asian, or others.

Another pat on the back for the police, for taking the legs out from underneath The Crew. Keep up the good work, you're not done yet.

Posted by: thereasonableman on May 7 2007 12:07 PM

"I wonder what the Hell's Angels would get into then? "

....Politics. (sneer)

:-)

Posted by: REALIST on May 7 2007 12:38 PM

HA!!! Gordo H.A. Campbell aka "Big Time"

Posted by: spanky on May 7 2007 2:02 PM

These gang members are not so new to town. Many of them were born and raised here. If their names were released, (which they should be as known gang members) many of them would sound familiar. These gangs are always made to sould like they "just arrived" and "rolled into town recently". These yo yo's have been around for a while. I just hope the cops start busting them soon before things get out of hand. Check out these stories on our newest gang: http://www.asianpacificpost.com/portal2/ff8080810d668457010d7eec444000ee_Surrey_man.do.html

or maybe this one:
http://www.primetimecrime.com/Recent/Organized%20Crime/VS20051001Indo.htm

or better yet:http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=b6dab10a-af17-4e70-aba6-3b700bb925af

doesn't sound so NEW to me?

http://www.clubvibes.com/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=431323

Posted by: giterdun on May 7 2007 2:53 PM

SEIZE THE CRACK SHACKS BURN EM OR SELL EM.
MAYBEE THE LANDLORDS WOULD BE MORE FUSSY ABOUT RENTING TO JUST ANYBODY. ITS OBVIOUS THAT LANDLORDS ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO THEIR PROPERTY.MAYBEE THEY ARE INVOLVED AND DON'T CARE. THE PUBLIC SHOULD BE INFORMED ABOUT WHO OWNS THESE DUMPS.

Posted by: Chadermando on May 7 2007 3:51 PM

The war on drugs is no different than the war on terror. Both are a joke designed to give power and resources to law enforcement support industries and not actually cure the problem. Treating the symptoms and not the cause.

Posted by: Big_B on May 7 2007 3:54 PM

The I. S. are in a war with the HA. PG is about to see violence like never before.

We can only hope and pray that there aren't any innocent victims in this war unlike the HA-Rock Machine war in which 11 year old Daniel Desrochers lost his life.

Posted by: metalman on May 7 2007 5:24 PM

Severe consequences for those caught producing, selling or using these illicit substances. Public humiliation. Hell, public flogging. And I don't mean three squares and guaranteed heat and light and activities, I mean harsh, hard time. No fun, no human interaction, solitary, cold, wet, meagre rations, no 'rights'
PROBLEM: the same one we always run into;
what if the person you lock up is innocent? What if it was you, and you were innocent? you would want a chance to prove your innocence, right? So we have the 'system' which purports to dispense justice to all. I don't know, but if they catch the scumbags redhanded, and the cops get them on video, that should be proof enough (?) might make for lean times for defense lawyers though.
metalman.

Posted by: lmorg on May 7 2007 6:22 PM

Oh yeah Jigga? Well, better not let them see you wearing that shirt then....

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on May 7 2007 6:24 PM

"Different culture, and a culture we are not able to deal with. Different morals"

Owl says .."What a bunch of hate mongering BS. The Irish in the US were thought of the same way, the Italians, the Russians, the Asians ......"

Asian gangs are different. What's so bad about adopting their own cultural response for dealing with Eastern Cultures?

Owl is spouting the prefect line that the Asian gangs hide behind and laugh at Canada's hopeless boobs. Anyone think that the Owl's of the world will let us cut a hand of any of these deadly parasites? Or tie one to the Honda steering wheel and burn 'em?

Aw just funnin'. Lets go on crying and moaning as usual. HeeHee! Owl is right. It is really working and we look forward to a great future as we get older and become easier targets. We are doing just great.

Maybe there are more cultures out there who's values are really shocking and wants to bring them to Canada? Bring them on, we value nothing. Not even your women. Was anyone surprised that the Indo ladies going into the Vancouver morgue regularly are put there by their relatives? Is that a cultural thing, or just a funny Canadian thing we will get used to? 100% is more than interesting. My Owl, are we ever tolerant, except when is comes to talking about the situation. Lets hear more about how you value the ones getting hurt?

Posted by: Harbinger on May 7 2007 8:48 PM

They have what they call "death squads" down in Rio. Haven't read anything about them lately. Oh, well. Just a thought. Rehabilitation into productive citizens? Ha ha ha .

Posted by: Palopu on May 7 2007 9:57 PM

So is the problem the user who buys the drug, or the pusher who sells it. One cannot survive without the other.

Perhaps legalizing the drugs is the answer, at least then we wuld be able to get rid of the criminal element, and we could have programs in effect to help addicted people.

Not likely to happen, however what else can you do???.

Posted by: thereasonableman on May 7 2007 11:21 PM

If they want to be soldiers, why don't we send them to Iraq or Afghanistan ? Then they can see firsthand what ruthless really means.

Posted by: nextgen on May 8 2007 9:41 AM

Hey YamaDooPolCat...if you want to make a point, lay it out in a coherent manner so one can at least understand where you are coming from. Your rambling nonsense serves no purpose other than to waste space on this site. Get a life.

Posted by: thereasonableman on May 8 2007 12:10 PM

There, I wasted some space too. I tried to get a life, but they were sold out.

Posted by: vocer on May 8 2007 4:23 PM

"The I. S. are in a war with the HA. PG is about to see violence like never before"

Geez Big_B ... you know something we dont. Thats a pretty heavy statement to make.

Posted by: thereasonableman on May 8 2007 6:51 PM

I doubt that will happen. PG is too condensed to run from one municipality to the next, getting lost in the traffic, etc.
There's just no cover.

Posted by: thereasonableman on May 8 2007 7:02 PM

I read this (in the story):

"The Independent soldiers are trying to take over from the Crew, a gang which Police allege has connections to the Hells Angels."

Then, I read this (in the same story):

"One RCMP officer said he didn�t know whether this new bunch is in bed with the Hells Angels, ......, "but I rather suspect it"."

OK, you suspect the Hells Angels are going to have an unaffiliated, Indo-Canadian youth gang, take over the drug trade from the HA's own Renegades and The Crew (their very own boys).

I suspect you are very effective as a police officer with this kind of logic.
If you don't understand your enemy, how can you expect to defeat them ?
Good lord.

In another news story, the same individual suspects that Coca-Cola will share their market and secret formula with Pepsi-Cola, just because. They both deal in pop, so they must be on the same team, right ?