This article is part of a Global BC series focused on the B.C. gang conflict.
Organized crime and its vast underground wealth isn’t breaking news for British Columbians. However, much like any other field of work, it has evolved and grown to incorporate new tech.
Much to the chagrin of law enforcement, organized crime in B.C. has implemented new systems to hide, use and transfer money that’s been illegally obtained through criminal activities.
This includes the use of cryptocurrency, e-wallets and video-game money trading plus cryptomarkets on the dark web.
One expert on B.C. gangs, Hilary Morden, shared her knowledge with Global News regarding this vast topic.
Morden interviewed more than 100 active gang members in 2016 and 2017 for her research at Simon Fraser University, where she was a criminology, forensic and psychology instructor.
“Over a two-year period, I got maybe one or two interviews a week. Then at my peak, I was doing about two or three a day,” Morden told Global News.
“(They) want to unburden their souls; that’s why (I think) they talk to me. I am a good listener and I don’t judge. It is cathartic, and who doesn’t want to talk about their life story, right?”
She was able to access them through a single source. She said once she interviewed one active gang member, others were made available as she gained their trust.
Morden says she’s interviewed gang members on every level, from street dealers to multi-millionaires who have been in the “game” for decades.
According to Morden, top-level B.C. gang members make “stupid, silly money. Millions upon millions.”
Those near the top make tens of millions and buy whatever they want, whenever they want — sometimes purchasing many houses and properties around the province for multiple family members.
“A lot of (the older gang members) are looking forward to the day that they retire. If they manage to stay alive, of course,“ Morden said.
“I talked to a guy who bought himself a ranch, somewhere near Kamloops or Merritt. He also bought a house for two of his cousins, his mom, his baby mama … everybody got a house.“
But with big money comes watchful eyes, as police and government agencies do their best to catch organized crooks and their nefarious dealings.
As the career criminals got older, Morden said they got smarter as well, keeping their inner circles small and tight, up to around seven people.
Most high-level gangs operate with a military-like structure, where members are only privy to need-to-know information. Rankings and structural compartmentalization are key factors for leaders staying out of jail, according to B.C.’s gang police.
“It’s a bit like a pyramid,” said Staff Sgt. Lindsay Houghton of B.C.’s anti-gang task force.
“At the top of the pyramid, you have your long-established higher-level groups, household names like the Hells Angels, United Nations, Wolfpack alliance and Brother’s Keepers. They are essentially the puppet masters. As you go down the pyramid, the more and more it becomes street level.
“The goal of those at the top is to insulate themselves, to not take any collateral damage and to not get involved in the fighting.”
Morden said those at the top of these high-level groups have their fists filled with cash and spend money as easily as it comes.
From renting out luxurious hotel rooms to purchasing homes and exotic cars, these gangsters have become creative in hiding their wealth.
Long gone is the notion that a gang member has to sell drugs out of a trap house. The evolution of smartphones has made it possible to run a drug empire from out of the country, and, according to police, possibly on a tropical beach.
Cryptocurrency and e-wallets are new techs that are being exploited by gang members, Morden said.
Cryptocurrency offers organized crime a way to hide how their money was made. It also offers an easy way of ‘washing’ it — turning illegally made funds into legitimate cash that can be explained as crypto earnings.
A recent SFU study, conducted by professor Richard Frank and researchers, took a look at how illicit drugs are also being sold and purchased online using cryptocurrency and dark-web cryptomarkets.
According to the study, a “cryptomarket” is an online marketplace in dark web spheres that can facilitate the sale of illicit goods between vendors and buyers. It’s much like how Facebook Marketplace operates.
Researchers analyzed eight “large and notable” international cryptomarkets out of dozens of websites.
“These online marketplaces are sort of like eBay, but it’s all on the dark web and it’s all encrypted and they sell drugs imported from any country,” Frank said.
“We took eight of these marketplaces, went through all the products, all the reviews and, using that, we were able to estimate the size of this entire ecosystem.”
Frank said it wasn’t hard to access the marketplaces; they just had to use a special application that gave them access.
Researchers found that an estimated 16.8 tons of illicit drugs were trafficked for $234.7 million across the eight cryptomarkets between June 2021 and January 2022.
Using those eight markets, Frank and researchers estimate that the entire dark web ecosystem moved around $370 million worth of drugs and a total of 64 tonnes over that time period, which include 32 cryptomarket websites.
They said the most popular drugs for purchasers were stimulants, cannabis, opioids and benzodiazepines.
Frank said the cryptomarket drug dealing ecosystem is only expected to grow in the coming years, and that intercepting these packages may be the only way of slowing it down.
“The dark web gets its name because of all the encryption that it uses. We can’t see into the workings of these and we can’t trace anything. Accessing (the dark web) is just downloading a piece of software and once you have it, you can access it,” Frank said.
The use of cryptocurrency, e-wallets and encrypted websites has made it extremely difficult for police. The B.C. government has also made a number of changes to the Civil Forfeiture Act to try and address unexplained assets.
The amendments require people to explain how they acquired their assets if there is a suspicion of unlawful activity.
The anti-gang task force said it’s no secret that the majority of its work is reactive and that the use of new tech has added an extra hurdle to police work.
“We’re always behind the technology curve in most cases, and it is a challenge for us,” Houghton said.
“We do still see duffel bags and chunks of cash being exchanged, but they have evolved to be able to employ various technologies, just like we all have in our lives.
“Law enforcement agencies do have a track record of successfully intercepting cryptocurrency and using it as evidence, (but gangsters) are creative. I think the public would probably appreciate the challenge (technology) presents.”
Houghton said work being done to prevent young people from joining gang life is equally, if not more, important, when it comes to combating organized crime.
“Education, prevention, and intervention are important,” he said.
“It’s more cost-effective than running a million-dollar, multi-year investigation. It’s pennies on the dollar to stop them before it’s too late.
“Being able to engage young people in school and pro-social activities, that is what we signed up to do. And it’s because we don’t want to have to knock on another mom or dad’s door to tell them their child has died.”
Hougton and other anti-gang officials created End Gang Life in 2013. The program has gang police officials visiting schools to educate students on the dangers of joining a gang.
The program has educated more than 75,000 students over 10 years.
“One of the things I tell kids is that being a gang member is not a pathway to a long life. I don’t know too many gang members who reach the age of 65.”
The next story in our series explores the psychology and motivating factors behind youth partaking in drug dealing and B.C.’s gang conflict.
Comments