Pubdate: Sat, 26 Jul 2014
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Kim Bolan
Page: A3

NEW BOOKLET DESCRIBES HOW GANGS WORK

Goal is to help parents and teens recognize recruitment techniques and
drug operations

B.C. anti-gang police and educators have prepared a booklet to help
parents understand how gangs work so they can better protect their
children.

Called Understanding Youth and Gangs, the publication explains how
teens are most vulnerable to being recruited by gangs when they have a
driver's licence and a need for cash.

It says the dial-a-dope delivery system for illicit drugs is usually
the point of entry for some youth, who get sucked in by the promise of
earning big money.

The teens are recruited to carry one of the phones used to take orders
for drugs, then to deliver the products to customers - using their own
vehicles.

"Since the older gangsters do not want to be caught by police while
delivering drugs, they target teenage youth, most of whom do not have
any history of criminal involvement. If caught by the police, the
amount of drugs in their possession is generally minimal and therefore
any criminal conviction may result in a more lenient sentence and
possibly no jail time," the booklet says.

"Like typical teenagers, the youth are open to adventure and are
willing to try out new and dangerous ways of living. The lure of
making quick money on the side can be very tempting for this age
group. Also, the risk may not seem huge given that all they need to do
is pick up a small package and deliver it to a designated location."

The booklet was prepared jointly by the Combined Forces Special
Enforcement Unit of B.C. and the Kwantlen Polytechnic University's
AT-CURA Project, which is researching anti-gang strategies.

CFSEU's Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said the booklet "will hopefully play a
significant role in educating people about gangs, how to recognize
warning signs that a youth may be getting involved in gangs, and
provide information on how to prevent young people from joining gangs."

Kwantlen professor Gira Bhatt noted that "prevention is the key to
combating gang crime in communities around the province."

Houghton said CFSEU will distribute the booklet around B.C. Future
editions are planned in Punjabi, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Arabic.

The booklet was released to mark the opening of Kwantlen's gang
prevention conference in Surrey this week.

It can be downloaded here: www.endganglife.ca

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[sidebar]

Dial-a-dope drug lines

1) Street level dial-a-doper:

Most teens are recruited into gangs to work at this level, taking
orders over a cellphone for drugs like marijuana, crack cocaine and
heroin, then delivering small packaged quantities they have picked up
from a reload house.

2) Reload house:

Workers at reload houses supply the drugs to the dial-a-dopers. A drug
line run by a reloader can bring in as much as $1,500 per day.
Reloaders often supply drugs from a safe house, rented in the name of
a friend or relative.

3) Operations:

The gang leader or leaders will have arranged a supply line for their
dial-a-dope drug operation. They received the larger quantities of
drugs to distribute to their reload houses.

4) Gang Leadership:

People who are at the top of the gangs are usually older. Their main
job is to coordinate the transportation of drugs and weapons, the
distribution of money, and to contract people to maintain the import,
export, buying, and selling of drugs.
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MAP posted-by: Matt