Nine gangs active in Red Deer, RCMP say

Red Deer is experiencing growth in its street gangs, lured by the city’s location, money and demographic, say authorities, and police believe a large bust announced this week represents only a fraction of the problem.

Cpl. Warren Dosko, Red Deer city RCMP detachment commander, said Tuesday that intelligence work leads police to believe there are nine street gangs now operating in the central Alberta city.

“Organized crime in Red Deer has been growing,” Dosko said. “We know that the location plays a key role of being centrally located between Calgary and Edmonton.

“We know that there’s no specific gang that claims Red Deer as their turf, so that’s why we see more than just one organized crime group in the community,” he said.

Dosko’s comments came at a news conference to announce that 16 people, connected to two street gangs, have been charged in one of the biggest organized crime busts in recent Red Deer history.

The suspects are connected to national organized crime groups and are also thought to be tied to recent cases of robberies, kidnappings, shootings and assaults in the Red Deer district, police said.

They are alleged to have been involved in a dial-a-dope operation.

“If you want to classify them, they’re middle management. They weren’t the low-end street dealers but they weren’t the highest possible group,” said Sgt. Geoff Greenwood, an undercover officer.

Red Deer Mayor Morris Flewwelling said he was not surprised that nine gangs operate in the city.

“It’s reassuring to me that (Dosko) knows there are nine. In other words, that they know the times, the places and the people,” Flewwelling said.

In addition to location, midway between Calgary and Edmonton, Flewwelling said Red Deer has quick and easy access to transportation with the Queen Elizabeth 2 Highway — and it has money and a young demographic.

“We have a lot of disposable income in this community,” he said.

“The average income is $105,000 for a family. . . . We have a youthful demographic and it’s a demographic where young men are predominant. All of those factors would tend to increase our desirability.

“And people don’t have to live here to be involved in it.”

Police are not naming the gangs involved, but a source identified one as Mad Cowz, a Winnipeg-based group that first came to police attention in the mid-2000s.

A Department of Justice report called The Nature of Canadian Urban Gangs says the Mad Cowz is “comprised of members from various ethnic backgrounds” and not one of the big three gangs operating in Winnipeg.

All 16 people in the Red Deer case were charged with drug trafficking offences. Some were allegedly dealing cocaine, others heroin.

“I’m surprised it’s heroin. Heroin is not really that (popular) here. It’s more the designer drugs like MDMA, cocaine or crack,” Greenwood said.

He said the gangs worked together in Red Deer, but were rivals in other locations.

Police say the bust is significant and disrupts the gangs’ operations.

However, law enforcement officials say it’s not the end of them.