And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 08:16:19 -0500
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: Lynne Moss-Sharman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Manitoba Warriors
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February 21, 1999
Danger and evil
Manitoba Warriors the worst
By MIKE D'AMOUR
Sun Media
Sun reporter Mike D'Amour covered crime in Ontario and
Winnipeg for several years before arriving in Calgary. He has
first-hand knowledge of the Manitoba gang scene -- he was the
only reporter to go behind an armed barricade at a northern
Manitoba reserve where several gun-toting members of the
Manitoba Warriors held off more then 300 Mounties for several
weeks in May 1996.
He identified and located a member of the Warriors wanted for
the execution-style slayings of two people days before police did.
In this article, he gives Calgarians a quick sketch of the gang that
has designs on our city.
* *
They're murderous, drug-pushing pimps -- and they're here.
Sun sources and the nation's police force say a vicious eastern
street gang is organizing in Calgary and Edmonton.
"Yeah, we've heard the Manitoba Warriors are looking to set
up shop there," said Const. Eric Edmonds of the Manitoba
RCMP's street gang unit, a group mandated to compile data on
the Keystone province's burgeoning gang problem.
Until a few years ago, gangs in Winnipeg could best be
described as almost laughable groups of rag-tag individuals who
posed no real threat to public safety.
The Warriors changed all that.
The gang was formed more than five years ago by a group of
Native ex-cons who brought the prison code to the streets.
"Now, the Manitoba Warriors are an organized crime group
and they're capable of anything: Drugs, prostitution, extortion and
murder," Edmonds said.
The leadership once relied heavily on recruiting from prisons
and the ranks of disenfranchised Native youth -- many from
northern reserves --but will now accept members from any ethnic
background who have the potential for turning an illegal buck.
The group, which has chapters in Kenora, Ont. (about two
hours northwest of Winnipeg) Regina and throughout Manitoba,
has established ties with other organized crime groups.
"The Manitoba Warriors is a major distributor of Hell's Angels
drugs," Edmonds said.
While the group, which at one point had a Web site on the
Internet, is responsible for several murders, drive-by shootings,
home invasions and other atrocities, their victims are usually close
to home, says a Winnipeg cop.
"We're finding they're preying a lot on their own people with the
drugs and prostitution -- and when things don't go right there,
they're assaulting and stabbing and going after their own people,"
said Staff Sgt. Bill Vandergraff of the 15-member street gang
unit, which deals with an estimated 1,500 gang members.
"There's no doubt, the Warriors are the lead gang."
In a recent effort to hobble the gang, Winnipeg police
conducted early-morning raids throughout that city and arrested
50 Warrior gang members and associates for drug trafficking,
prostitution and weapons violations.
Thirty-six are still awaiting trial behind bars, unable to get bail.
They're scheduled to be tried together later this year in an
especially secure setting -- the province is spending about $6
million to convert an old grain elevator into a hi-tech courtroom.
Despite the success of the raid, Vandergraff estimates there are
still 50 hard-core Warriors on the streets.
While some Calgary officers acknowledge the existence of the
gangs here, Manitoba police warn the locals not to make the
same mistakes they did.
"The first stage of the police and public is denial -- not knowing
what the signs are and the attitude of `It can't happen here,' "
Edmonds said.
"If you want to combat street gangs, the community must take
ownership of the problem and work together -- everybody,
police schools and religious organizations."
The Winnipeg police officer also has some advice.
"If Calgary police have a sense of gangs there, I'd tell them to
get a hold of our street gang unit right away for the information
we could provide," Vandergraff said.
"I'm quite confident the Calgary Police Service knows how to
deal with these situations--if they don't, they'll learn quickly."
"Let Us Consider The Human Brain As
A Very Complex Photographic Plate"
1957 G.H. Estabrooks, Creator
of the Manchurian Candidate
born New Brunswick
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.aches-mc.org
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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