Pubdate: Mon, 25 Aug 2008
Source: Chilliwack Progress (CN BC)
Copyright: 2008 The Chilliwack Progress
Contact:  http://www.theprogress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/562

BLOOD MONEY FUELS DRUG TRADE

The gangland-style assassination of a local realtor last week sent 
shock waves through Chilliwack. The killing marks 17 targeted 
shootings in the Lower Mainland this year alone - evidence, police 
say, of the continuing struggle for control over the region's 
lucrative drug trade.

Police have said little about the murder of 33-year-old Mike Gordon 
Wednesday evening, except that the victim was "known to police," and 
that he and his assailants were likely known to each other.

Nonetheless, that hasn't stopped the speculation. Theories were 
flowing fast and freely last week as gang connections were drawn 
between Gordon and the murky underworld of organized crime.

That Chilliwack finds itself stained by the same gang war that has 
left a trail of blood in other municipalities should be expected. 
Gangs have been operating in the community for years. It was only a 
matter of time before the violence reached a deserted parking lot in 
a quiet suburban neighbourhood in Chilliwack.

But onus should not rest solely with the person who pulled the trigger.

If Gordon was indeed killed by organized crime, his murder was funded 
- - in part - by the recreational drug users who can't see through 
their own smoke to understand the world they are financing.

Money drives organized crime. And every dollar spent on illicit drugs 
trickles up the ladder to people who think nothing of ending a life.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom