A Snapshot of Prison Gangs and Youth Gangs in Canada: Well-known Gangs, Membership, Offences, Risk, and Reconviction

by insideprison.com, May 2006

Like their American counterparts, prison gangs in Canada are numerous and diverse, and at many times dispositionally related to the region in which they operate. In the Prairie provinces, one of the largest focus areas of Aboriginal criminal justice research today, Native Canadian gangs (largely youth-composed) are rapidly increasing both within prison and without. An estimated 250 Aboriginal incarcerated youths are involved in prison gangs and up to 1,000 in Aboriginal youth street gangs (Correctional Service Canada 2005). 5% of Canada's 14,000 federal inmates is part of a prison gang, with Aboriginal inmates contributing a sizable portion. Furthermore, 80% of all young male offenders aged 25 and younger are affiliated with a gang (Correctional Service Canada 2002). According to the Calgary Herald, 450 Aboriginal gang members serve time in prisons throughout Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, with 113 of those on conditional release, and 58 of those at a single institution, Drumheller.

One may argue that the rise of prison gangs in Canadian correctional facilities has simply been the direct recoil of recent anti-gang initiatives by law enforcement. As Correctional Services Canada admit, the "increase in the admission of members and associates of gangs and criminal organizations... can be attributed to the government's introduction of legislation to combat organized crime and to the success of the integrated approach of law adopted by law enforcement." (http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/releases/04-06-25_e.shtml)

American influence on Canadian street and prison gangs results in some gangs adopting American styles of dress, identification, and organization. Death Do Us Part, a Prairie prison gang that began in Edmonton Young Offender Centre (E.Y.O.C) in 1994, changed their color from purple to blue a year after their inception, to mark their supposed affiliation with the Crips in Arizona and California. After changing their name to the DDP Crips, they thereafter became known only as the Crips in Alberta, a reputation that lasted until 1998.

Some of the reasons for many forms of Western Canadian gang deviance surrounds the current state of many of Canada's Native Canadians. Many of those who are young, poor, unemployed, discriminated against, out of school, and suffering from addiction statistically become natural candidates for membership in solidarity-focused, "cultural advocacy" groups. The actual activities of many Aboriginal youth gangs, however, like their American equivalents protesting similar cultural- and age-oppressive environments, involve very little of these supposed cultural goals. Instead, vandalism, auto thefts, robberies and muggings remain the crimes of choice for many youth gangs, who either prefer (or must accept) both less prestigious and less inconspicuous operations than their organized-crime counterparts, the Manitoba Warriors and the Hells Angels, who prefer gun-smuggling, drug-trafficking, drug-dealing, and prostitution.

The gangs listed below are by no means an exhaustive list of the possible organizations operating in prison and on the streets in the Vancouver, the Prairies, the Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa, and Montreal, but they are by far the majority, with the largest being the Manitoba Warriors, the Native Syndicate, the Indian Posse, Redd Alert, the Hells Angels, the Crips, the Bandidos, Shower Posse, White Aryan Resistance, (aka Aggravated Resistance), and the Bloods. In all cases, these gangs produce institutional instability, an increase in transfers, and a spread of membership.

Specific Gangs Across Canada

Prairie Region

in prison: Aggravated Resistance / Aryan Resistance / White Aryan Resistance - transnational gang, reported either in prison or on the street across Alberta, and in Toronto and Montreal. Restrictions were imposed on inmates of the Edmonton Remand Centre in 2003 after a growing feud between Redd Alert and Aryan Resistance. Alberta Warriors Crazy Dragons Crazy Dragon Killers Death Do Us Part Deuce East Side Crips (in Winnipeg, but known as the Dog City Crips in Colorado Springs. According to user-sources, East Side Crips are known as more of a street gang than a prison gang in Winnipeg) Guerillas Of Death Hell's Angels Indian Posse Kapital Ground Brotherhood Manitoba Warriors Mixed Blood Native Syndicate Redd Alert RTN - Repping The Northside, reported inside the Manitoba Youth Center, numbering between 20 and 50 members, according to users (see street gang list for more details) Saskatchewan Warriors Untamed Til Death UTD Zig Zag Crew

on the street: 3-2 Bloodset (based out of 32st in Edmonton Alberta in the Abbottsfield area) 4 Duece Killers (Blood set out of Edmonton) Aggravated Resistance / Aryan Resistance / White Aryan Resistance African Mafia (Winnipeg) Alberta Warriors Avenues Bandidos Bloods Boyz N Tha Hood (large street gang known in Calgary, Alberta, in the early 1990's.) Brawlers (Brandon, Manitoba) B-Side (Winnipeg) Brothers and Bitches Bulldogs Cash Money Brothers Charleswood Priand Clareview Crips (Edmonton) Crazy Cree Crazy Dragons (Edmonton, Alberta) Crazy Dragon Killers (Edmonton, Alberta) Crips Dakota Warriors Society - Brandon, Manitoba. Death Do Us Part Deuce Dirty Money Crew (DMC) - identified by Dirty Money tattoo on the stomach, with a smoking gun and money. Main source of income trafficking. Main colour is grey, with secondary colours being white and black. Reported in small numbers but frequently inside Winnipeg Remand Centre. Dirty South (Edmonton) DK'Z - according to user sources, there are over 300 in Edmonton's Millwoods area Dynamic Crew - Winnipeg-based Blood set. Dream City, DC (Calgary, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat, Alberta) - according to user sources, Dream City "are known for drug trafficking of cociane in the area. They are of different ethnic backgrounds. It is unknown the size of the gang presently but they do seem to be growing in size." Eastside Crips (Winnipeg) East End Bandits EvR (Regina) - according to users, they wear burgundy/red, are based in the Eastview area, are rivals with U.K., have "evr" tatoos, and the motto "All of us or none of us." Relatively small, about 20-30 members. Junior Mixed Blood (Saskatchewan) Fresh Off the Boat F.O.B (Calgary) Fresh Off the Boat Killers F.O.B.K (Calgary) Gators Guerillas Of Death Hell's Angels Insane Deathrow Gangsta Crips Indian Mafia Crips (Saskatchewan) Indian Soulja's (Saskatchewan) Indian Posse Jamaican Posse Kapital Ground Brotherhood Kids (Brooks, Alberta) Kingpin Bloods (Based out of Edmonton) Kingsway Bloods (Edmonton) Krazies (Winnipeg) Krazy Cambodian Killers (K.C.K) (Edmonton, Alberta) La Raza (Calgary) Lawndale 13 LB Bloods Locolz (North End, Winnipeg, Manitoba) Los Montoneros (Manitoba) Loyalty Honour Silence (LHS) (Manitoba) Mad Cowz, a Winnipeg-based gang made up of mostly young African immigrants, and which recently split into two factions, one of which calls itself the African Mafia. Mafia Crips (MC's), Edmonton, Alberta Main Street Rattlers Manitoba Bloods Manitoba Warriors Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) (Calgary) Markham Royalz Mixed Blood Native Crips (Hobema, Alberta) Native Kings Native Mob Family (Minnesota-based) Native Souljas/Mafia (Saskatchewan) Native Syndicate Native Syndicate Killers (NSK) North End Brotherhood (Winnipeg-based) North End Jamaicans (Edmonton) North Central Rough Riderz (Saskatchewan) North Shore Bloods (Kamloops,British Columbia) North Side Jonsquad (Winnipeg) Nine-Os (Winnipeg-based) Northside (Edmonton) Notorious Bloods (Blood set out of Winnipeg) Overlords (Winnipeg-based) Oriental Killers Partners In Crime (PIC) (Calgary, Alberta) offshoot of Deuce Pretty Boy Mafia P.B.M (Edmonton) Redd Alert RTN - Repping The Northside - Winnipeg set based in North End. Activities include robbery, membership-protection, graffiti and trafficking of marijuana and psychedelics. Members have a belief in a socialist ideaology that includes only robbing the rich or police (called "Sir'z") and not selling Hard Drugs in the Ghetto. Saskatchewan Warriors Sisterhood Sisters In Action (S.I.A.) Winnipeg-based female gang responsible for the death of a 16-year old boy, in a botched gang fight in the early 1990's. Soul Suvivaz (Winnipeg) Southside Boys (Edmonton) South Side Skulls Sur 13 (Calgary, Alberta) Trang Gang (Edmonton) Tribal Warriors (Saskatchewan) T.Z. Untamed Til Death (UTD) Versace Crew Vice Lords West End Boys (Winnipeg-based) West End Jamaicans (Edmonton) Westside Compadres Westside Crips (based out of Edmonton) West Side Jonsquad (Winnipeg) West Side Kings (Taber, Alberta) West Side Soldiers (Saskatchewan) Whiteboy Posse (based out of Edmonton, Alberta) White Fence Wolf Pack Wrecking Crew - A user reports that the Wrecking Crew reside in and around winnipeg mostly in the East Kildonan and Elmwood area on motorcycles in the bars. They are violent and are known to be friends to the Hells Angels. They wear shirts that say "BOW DOWN" on the back. They travel in in large numbers and often challenge people to fights. They are growing in numbers very fast. Yellowheads (Edmonton, Alberta) Young Bloodz (Winnipeg, North Side) Zig Zag Crew

Greater Toronto Area (some street and some prison)

1. 187 - Large gang associated with Tamils, Guyanese, Afghans, and Punjabis
2. 400 Crew
3. 5 (Five) Point Generalz (5PGz) - recently implicated in the boxing day shooting of Jane Creba, an alleged member who was slain infront of a church in Rexdale. Police also suspect the March 27 murder of Romaine Lawrence, who was shot to death at a pizzeria on Weston Rd, was related to a turf war involving the 5PGz.
4. 12 Buddhas, a Vietnamese gang that has allegedly provided protection for Asian offenders serving time, especially in the gang-ridden Mimico Detention Centre in Toronto.
5. 18 Buddahsm, which numbered 20 as of 1998.
6. 18th Street - Latino gang reported in Guelph and Toronto
7. AK Kannon (Toronto and Montreal)
8. Alberta Nomads
9. Apocalypse Crew (Scarborough)
10. Ardwick Blood Crew - subject to the recent 2005 Toronto police raids targeting attempted murder and firearms trafficking charges
11. Aryan Resistance
12. Asian Assassins - and Asian youth gang from Alexandra Park, according to user-sources.
13. B3 (Bad Brown Boys) (Montreal, Malvern, Scarborough, Brampton, and Mississauga)
14. Bandidos
15. The Basement (Ajax, Ontario)
16. Bay Mills Crips - Glendower Crips' arch-rivals from Scarborough, according to user-sources.
17. Big Circle Boys, allegedly behind a 1998 Toronto counterfeit credit card operation whose success centred on the gang's clever practice of concealing the transaction on the bill of the credit-holder.
18. Black Soldiers (Kitchener-Waterloo)
19. Blake Street Massive
20. Bleeker Crew
21. Block-13 (Scarborough)
22. Bloods - as of 1998, a Florida Blood member was alleged to have moved north to Toronto and become a top-ranking member in the Toronto chapter. Police have called the US influence mere "imitation"since the early 1990s.
    1. Ardwick Bloods Crew
    2. BTB - B-Town Bloods (Based in Brampton)
    3. Bloods With Attitude (BWA)
    4. The North Riverdale Region had, as of the late 1990s, a gang called the Young Blood Generation, which was reported by Toronto Police to have about 20 known members as of 1998.
    5. Chalkfarm Bloods
    6. Homicide Bloods (Roywoods)
    7. Jungle Posse/City Bloods (Lawrence Hieghts)
    8. Looney Toons
    9. Ortan Park Bloods (Scarborough)
    10. Pelham Park Bloods
    11. Trife Kids (Finch area)
    12. True Portuguese Bloods
    13. Willowridge (Rotten Ridge Bloods) (Etobicoke)
23. Born to Kill (BTK) (a.k.a. the BTK Canal Boys or just BTK). Born To Kill was a Vietnamese organized crime group that existed during the late 1980's & early 1990's. They were formed in New York City's Chinatown district.
24. BTM (Born To Murder)
25. BTS (Brown Terror Squad)
26. Brave Heartz (BHz)
27. Brockton Massives - a Toronto gang reported involved in extortion and violence in the early 1990s. The Piru Bloods were also reported to be active in Toronto as of the late 1990s, with a modest force of 15.
28. Chalkfarm Bloods
29. Chester Le crew
30. Christie Boys - youth gang from the Christie Pits area of Toronto responsible for a shooting in 1992
31. Crips -
    1. As of the late 1990s, Toronto's southwest end sported the West End Crips, while North York harboured the New Born Crips, a force that numbered 70 in 1998, according to police. New Born Crips were reported to operate a base in Rexdale as of 1994, where 40 members existed at the time. As of the early 2000s, some of the gang was believed to be operating in Jamestown, known as the Jamestown Crew. Jamestown has recently also been home to the Little Gangsta Crips. Murders that occurred in Toronto throughout the early 2000s were at least partly attributed to the growing Bloods-Crips rivalry in that city.
    2. At least 6 sets of the Crips operate in Jamestown, however, including Mother Natures Mistakes, which numbered 40 strong in 1998, Jamestown Crips, Mount Olive Crips, Ghetto Boys, New Born Crips, and the Junior Crips.
    3. ACG (All Crips Gang, Scarlett Road area)
    4. Lakeshore Crips
    5. TGK (Trethewey Gangsta Killaz)
    6. Falstaff Crips
32. Dem Boyz N da Hoake (Tamil gang) in Markham
33. Dovercourt Boys
34. Duffrin Park Boys
35. East Side Thugs (EST) (Tuxedo Court)
36. Esplanade Crew
37. Evil Ones - a Hells Angels-affiliated biker gang
38. Fieldgate Boys (Mississuaga)
39. Fred Hamilton Boys, 50 strong as of 1998
40. Front Page Gangsters, known in 1998
41. Fuller Park Boys
42. Galloway Boys, a Scarborough-based gang that was brought to the public light following the 2004 Toronto police undercover operation, Project Pathfinder.
43. Gangster Disciples - a Chicago based gang, but recently reported in Toronto by Toronto Police in an unknown capacity
44. Gators, 50 strong in 1998
45. Get Mad Crew
46. Ghetto Boys, a small gang known in late 1990s.
47. Gilder Boys
48. Glendower Crips - scarborough gang, rivals of the Bay Mills Crips.
49. Hells Angels
    1. Satan's Choice
    2. Para Dice Riders
    3. Last Chance
    4. Lobos
    5. Vegabonds
50. Indian Gator Association
51. Indian Posse
52. India Mafia - Toronto gang with mixed Tamail and Punjabi membership.
53. Indo-Candian Mafia - gang with ties to Vancouver Indo-Candian gangs as well as ties to the Toronto-area Tamil Tigers
54. Jane Finch Killers, which numbered 100 in 1998
55. Jane Finch Tamilz (JFT)
56. Jamaican Shower Posse - a gang allegedly drawing its name from its trademark of "showering" its victims with bullets. In addition to Toronto, shower posse has been reported across the US, including Boston, New York, Pennsylvannia, Miami, Houston, Minnesota, Portland, Orgeon, and Milwaukee. Spurred on by a recent RICO indictment operation in 1988, Jamaican Shower Posse members were arrested in: Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; Chicago; Cleveland; Dallas; Denver; Detroit; Hartford, Conn.; Houston; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Martinsburg, W.Va.; Miami; New Orleans; New York; Norfolk, Va.; Philadelphia; Raleigh, N.C.; and Washington metropolitan area. In 1991, the chief of police of Toronto called for a squad to deal with the Jamaican Posse. Canada's border control has been criticized for being too relaxed with the Jamaican Posse out of fear of attacks of racial profiling.
57. Jamestown Crew - a primarily Toronto street gang affiliated with the continental Crips and once associated with a Six Nations gun smuggler, who supplied the Crew with US weapons. The gang was recently subject to the May 2004 police raid dubbed Project XXX, which resulted in the arrests of 100 people belonging to or connected with the Jamestown Crew in Rexdale.
58. JFT Gang - located in Toronto. According to users, a gang founded in the 1980s after a terroristic attack, remains unknown.
59. Junior Mafia - Gang in Markham (Mccowan and Steeles) consisting of about 15 members, involved in drug trafficking and car thefts.
60. KnL (Kennedy and Lawrence)
61. L.A.'s (Latino Americanos) - a Latino youth gang who was approximately 60 members strong as of 1994, and reported in the Christie Pits area and Alexandra Park area of Toronto. At that time, however, Toronto Police did not view the L.A.'s as a sophisticated or organized force to deal with.
62. la Cinco Tras Familia (Five Three) - West end, Lakeshore Blvd West and Mimico Ave, in Etobicoke
63. La Familia 13
64. Lankan Outlawz (Mississauga, Brampton, Scarborough)
65. Lansdowne Boyz
66. Latin Kings
67. Latin Knights
68. Latin Crips
69. Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13)
70. Lynch Mob - a small gang that allegedly briefly robbed terrorized passengers on Toronto subways in the early 1990s.
71. Malvern Crew - based out of Scarborough (specifically Neilson Road south of Finch Avenue) and active in Toronto, allegedly a multi-talented gang with experience in drive-bys and drug smuggling. Juice Mob is a sub-group of the Malvern Crew.
72. Mara Loca 13
73. Markham Boys - According to user-sources, the Malvern Crew's arch-rivals.
74. McCormack Boys, 40 strong in 1998
75. Metro Posse - an old 1989 gang known for terrorizing the subway system.
76. Military Minds (MM)
77. Money Comes First (MCF)
78. Mornelle Court crew
79. Mount Olive Crips
80. MNE Crew (Markham & Eglinton)
81. M-Town
82. Native Syndicate - Toronto
83. Native Syndicate Killers
84. National Front (Skinhead group known in late 1980s)
85. Neta Association (Rexdale, York Region) - reportedly began by New York members
86. Northshore Crips
87. Nosiderz - East York based gang made up of Tamils from the nearby East York school
88. NWA (Niggaz with Additude)
89. One Hit Killers (645) - gang in Portunion, Scarborugh
90. One Lankan Nation (OLN)
91. O.B.B (Oriental Bad Boys - now Original bad Boys) (Hamilton)
92. Outlaws - a motorcycle gang recently afflicted with the powerful 2002 joint police raid against members that uprooted gang bases in Kingston, London, Toronto, Ajax, St. Catharines, Windsor, Hamilton and Ottawa.
93. Parkdale Crew
94. Persian Soliders (PS) Etobicoke, Scarborough, Toronto, Richmond Hill. Large Persian gang, in prison and on the street.
95. Point Blank Souljahs (younger generation of Regent Park Crew)
96. Project Originals - a Blood-affiliated gang (according to user-sources) reported engaging in petty theft and drugs in and around the Alexandra Park, College Street, Euclid Avenue, Dundas Street West , and Spadina Avenue areas in Toronto. P.O. stands for Project Originals, who are the older gang members, while Next Generation represent the younger ones. They have also been reported around the Atkinson Co-op, a downtown housing project formerly known as Alexandra Park, west of Spadina, between Dundas and Queen, according to the Toronto Star and user sources.
97. Punjabi Mafia - old Indo-Candian gang from the early and mid 1990s, reportedly involved in drugs, thefts and defrauding insurance companies by burning vehicles and faking car accidents, according to the Toronto Star (16 February 1995). The relationship between the Punjabi Mafia in Canada and the Punjabi Mafia in Pakistan, which remains a formidable presence in that country, are unknown.
98. Rat-Pack
99. Rebels
100. Red Devils (MC)
101. Regent Park Crew
102. Rollin 200'z - Crip gang operating in Malvern (Wickson Trail, Crow Trail, B-way)
103. Rude Boys - a Jamaican gang linked to narcoterrorism
104. Ruff Ryderz
105. Ruff Souljahz "RSZ" (Scarborough) - Based in Warden/Finch area
106. Scarborough Bandits - reported in the early 1990s as "nothing more than a group of gun-toting guttersnipes" (5 April 1993 Kitchener-Waterloo Record)
107. Seelapu (Tamil Gang)
108. Silver Boys, a male Chinatown gang affiliated with the female Spadina Girls
109. Silver Springs
110. Slingers (Kitchener)
111. Spadina Girls - a female youth gang that recruited teenagers from high school, directed by its 16 year-old leader, and who saw four of its members charged by Toronto Police in 1998 after a severe beating and $500 robbery.
112. Surenos
113. Tamil Tigers - reported in the context of organized criminal terrorist mobilization operations in Montreal and Toronto, connected to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
114. Tivu Boys (Malvern, Toronto)
115. Tivu Family
116. TLR
117. Toronto Persian Posse - allegedly responsible for various robberies and violence in Toronto's transit system in the early 1990s.
118. Tre Deuce
119. Trethewey Gangster Killers 15
120. Trife Kids 60
121. True Brown Thug (TBT)
122. True Portuguese Bloods (a Blood set based in Toronto's Little Portugal.)
123. Tuxedo Boys or Tuxedo Rude Boys (TRB or 292 Boys) at Turf Tuxedo Court, Scarborough, and Markham Strip.
124. Tux Soulz
125. Uddaptaday, possibly a Tamil-linked gang with ties to Sri Lanka.
126. Untouchables - a long-ago drug-trafficking gang reported in Toronto and New York City in the late 1970s.
127. Vatos Locos (Latino gang)
128. Versace Crew - mainly reported in Toronto and Scarborough, including Kingston Penitentiary, this gang holds as key members several second-generation Jamaican immigrants and allegedly makes quick enemies. Police allege the Ebanks brothers were behind much of the activities of the gang in Toronto
129. VVT - reported in Toronto, Scarborough, Etobicoke, Mississauga, Montreal, and London, England. VVT is a Tamil-associated group that allegedly fulfills enforcement duties for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the Sri Lankan terrorist group. Many VVT members are allegedly made up of trained ex-Tamil Tigers. The VVT's rivals are AK Kanna (named after the popular AK-47 assault rifle), having engaged in a bloody turf war in Scarborough during the summer of 1999. The VVTs were subject to the 2001 police and immigration raid, Project 1050, that eventually resulted in the deportation of dozens of Tamil members.
130. Vice-lords - a Chicago-based gang, but has a Toronto chapter allegedly founded by Andrew Bacchus, according to the The Miami Herald (22 June 2006 ). Bacchus grew up in the Jane and Finch area of the city, and now runs a gang-exiting program called "Breaking the Cycle" (see article )
131. VR Troopers
132. Woodblock (Mississauga) - Crip-related gang known among user sources for drugs, shootings, robberies.
133. Young Assassins, a very small gang known in late 1990s
134. YBS (Young Brown Soljaz) downtown based gang, mostly made of Tamils and Bengalis.
135. Young LankanZ - Also Known as YL. Associated with Credit Card Frauds, Drug Trafficking. Rivals
     with the Junior Mafia.
136. Young Thugs
137. Zig-zags

Greater Vancouver Area

1. 14K Triad
2. 18th Street
3. Big Circle Boys
4. Born To Kill
5. Brown Side Thugz - Indo Canadian gang in the Surrey, BC area. According to user sources, significant members have operated in the drug trade, sex trade, gun smugling, kidnapping, and murder.
6. Daku Killaz - according to user sources, a violent Indo-Canadian gang located in East Vancouver, with close ties to the Independent Soldiers. The gang has allegedly been involved in kidnapping Indo Canadian business-men, home invasions, murder, and cross border human trafficking.
7. Dark Cloud Bloods
8. Death do us Part (DDP)
9. Dosanjh Brothers - According to users, the Dosanjh Brothers were the first Indo Canadian gang in
   Vancouver. Brothers Ron and Jimmy Dosanjh were killed in separate hits in 1994 and 1995 in a drug turf war by former associate-turned-rival Bindy Johal. Bindy Johal then took over the gang in the mid 1990s until he was murdered in a Vancover night club on in Dec 20, 1998. The deaths of such members, often revered for the respect they attracted, continue to influence young Indo Canadian gangsters. (for more information on Indo-Canadian gangs, see this Vancouver Sun article)
10. Eastside Disciples Crips (connected to 1960s-era Eastside Disciples?)
11. The Elite (Richmond, B.C based Indo-Canadian hit squad)
12. FBK - South Vancouver Indo-Canadian gang
13. GGB
14. Hell's Angels
15. Independent Soldiers (Vancouver Indo-Canadian gang)
16. Indo-Canadian Mafia
17. KBC - major Filipino gang in the 1990s with membership from 60-100 (now defunct)
18. Kapital Ground Brotherhood (KGB)
19. Krazy Cambodian Killers KCK
20. L.A Boys (Latino gang)
21. Los Diablos (as of 1989)
22. Lotus
23. Mara Loca (Latino gang)
24. MS-13
25. Mobtown Crew - East Indian organization in East Vancouver
26. Night Crawlers
27. Persian Pride (now defunct)
28. Red Eagles (as of 1989)
29. Red Scorpions - users report that the Red Scorpions were originaly formed in the Young Offenders
    facility in 2000 and from there continued to grow. They are muli-cultured, as race is secondary to loyalty and respect. They have allegedly been involved in a variety of serious crimes, and a range of international ties. However, users say they are small in numbers (20), and most are in prison.
30. Sunset Boyz - East Indian gang from Southeast Vancouver
31. Sur 13
32. Surrey Jacks - Indo-Canadian gang in the Surrey area, involved in car theft, home invasions and kidnappings, according to user sources.
33. TJ Thandi
34. U.N Gang (Abbotsford, B.C based gang. U.N stands for United Nations because of
    the gangs multiracial make-up; Indo-Canadians, Asians, Persians, Whites)
35. Viet Ching (also heavily reported on the US west coast, especially Los Angeles. According to a 1999 article by Agence-Presse France, "The two largest gangs in the United States are the Los Angeles branch of the Viet-Ching and the Born To Kill gang of New York city, also affiliated to the Viet-Ching." According to other reports, Vietnamese gangs such as Viet Ching have typically leaned more towards organized, high-tech and business crime, including extortion and human trafficking)
36. West Coast Players WCP (Black gang of pimps and drug dealers)
37. WCPM - West Coast Punjabi Mafia, Indo-Canadian crime organization with ties in California

Ottawa

1. Ace Crew - responsible for the famous Sylvain Leduc killing in 1995, when recently paroled John Wartley Richardson slayed the 17 year-old for allegedly disrespecting the gang in a time when the gang's legitimacy and street presence were both fading. While Ace Crew activity has subsided since the late 1990s, there are still apparently a small band of members left.
2. Baycrest Crips
3. Bloods
4. Cedar Wood Crips
5. Central Park Click (CPC) - reported to operate in Ottawa's Eastend (Manor Park and Downtown), and was founded in the late 1990's.
6. Combat18. (C-18) (Southwest Ontario) - originally a British terrorist organization formed in 1992, Combat-18, most commonly known as a paramilitary advocate of the neo-nazi/fascist cause, allegedly provided with funds by Skrewdriver's record label White Noise. C18 hosted the band No Remorse, which strived to be a "proper" terrorist organization at one point, according to Ryan, (2004:121). C18 leader William Browning fully intended the record label ISD Records to be 'created to fund terrorist organizations' (122). His plan was to keep the money from ISD earnings and funnel it into terrorist activities, using Denmark as a base of operations. There, bomb-maker Marcel Schift was to be handed responsibility of managing IDS Records' Scandinavian branch, with the ultimate goal of deploying a series of bombings across several European cities. The organization has been reported in cities across Canada.
7. Crack Down Posse (historically) - in 1998 two CDP members shot then-21-year-old Apaid Noel with a sawed-off shutgun outside a club on Rideau Street downtown, in what the Assistant Crown attorney said was "one of the most brazen crimes imaginable." (Ottawa Citizen, January 20, 2006). A recent sentencing hearing opened new wounds for the victims, while offering a chance for the convicted to plead their case for parole eligibility in 12 years, highlighting that one of the two convicted of the murder has since removed the CDP's familiar machine-gun-tattoo as a sign that he has distanced himself from the gang world. It is unclear whether CDP members still exist in Ottawa.
8. Double R - gang hailing from the West End of Ottawa. Started as an alliance between the Ritchie and Ramsey housing units in the West End, and has recently evolved into the Bloods.
9. Eastside Mafia Crips, allegedley to have begun activity in 2007 in the eastend of Ottawa.
10. Gilder Boys - allegedly headed by Ottawa electrical engineer Kaileshan Thanabalasingham, who later took over the leadership of the VVT gang currently most active in Toronto, and who was arrested in Ottawa in October of 2001. However, any Tamil linked gangs, such as VVT, largely operate in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver and any presence in Ottawa may be either transitory, insignificant, or unknown.
11. Hell's Angels - Ontario Nomads based out of Ottawa
12. Ledbury Banff Crips
13. Overbrook Bloods, allegedly created in 2002 in Overbrook, a neighbourhood in the eastend of Ottawa
14. Redd Alert
15. Sandlewood Crips
16. Triple S (South Side Souljaz) - South End gang.
17. VVT
18. Westside 613 - users say it was created in 2006 in West Ottawa

Montreal

1. 18th Street (St-Leonard)
2. Bandidos
3. Bloods - known as Bo-Gars in Montreal, reported to have a membership of about 200, as of 2000, of mostly Haitian origin. The Bo-Gars reportedly began in Montreal North in the mid-1980s. The gang has since spread to Laval and Longeuil, and has been connected to a host of violent and serious crime, as well as telemarketing fraud.
4. Crips - known as C.D.P's (Crackdown Posse) in Montreal, reported with a membership of about 200 in 2000, of mostly Haitian origin. The CDP began in the early 1990s in the St. Michel district. The turf war between CDP and the Bo-Gars has recently spread to Laval.
5. Downtown Posse - A Montreal Crip gang in Cote-des-Neige, mostly of Jamaican origin. Rivals of the Uptown Posses.
6. Hells Angels
7. Money Over Bitches (M.O.B ) - Bloods gang
8. Montreal Italian Mafia
9. Montreal West End Gang AKA the "Irish Mob" AKA the "Westies" - according to user sources, a group of older men who control the port of Montreal, and according to the Vancouver Sun, a "group of anglophone criminals" running guns and drugs (4 October 2001). The term "Westies" may have originated from the custom of referring to South Boston's Irish-Americans as "Southies." Montreal was the reported place of refuge for Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, an informer in the Boston Irish Mob during the 1970s. Former Boston Irish Mob kingpin Whitey Bulger built a strong underground network with the West End Gang since Bulger went into hiding. The West End Gang (Irish Mob) have been reported to work closely with the Hells Angels, including fixing prices on cocaine for trafficking and distribution.
10. MSBK - a Blood set in St. Hubert, off the Island of Montreal
11. National League (Skinhead group known in late 1980s)
12. N.D.G bloods
13. Piru Park Boyz - a blood/piru gang with affiliation to piru's in Compton, located in Greenfield Park, from St.constant to Longuiel. 100 to 150 members.
14. Rock Machine - since absorbed by the Bandidos
15. Ruff Ryders, in the West Island. Ruff Ryders began in West Island high schools and graduated to higher level criminal activities such as extortion and weapons trafficking. They developed alliances with the Rockers up until 2001.
16. Surenos (Sur 13)
17. Syndicate - according to user sources, a powerful street gang that works for the Hell's Angels
18. T.L.R - Toronto Lankan Recruitement
19. Uptown Posse - A Montreal Blood gang in Cote-des-Neige. Mostly of Jamaican origin.
20. White Boy Wrecking Crew

Atlantic Canada

1. Bayers Westwood Mob
2. Hell's Angels
3. MOB, (aka Sprytown Mob) Spryfield, Nova Scotia
4. North End Dartmouth (NED), Halifax
5. North Preston's Finest (Nova Scotia)
6. Spry Town Mob (aka MOB), Spryfield, Nova Scotia

Gangs in Atlantic Canada have been reported incarcerated at Atlantic Institution (maximum), Dorchester
Penitentiary, and Springhill Institution

Geographical Distribution

Geographic Distribution of Canadian Prison Gangs, by City

source: Correctional Service Canada

According to the Winnipeg Free Press, the Manitoba Warriors and the Indian Posse are the largest gangs in the city of Winnipeg, and probably account for the city's 7% ownership of the country's entire gang population. The Deuces, West End Boyz (WEB), North End Brotherhood (NEB) and the Nine-Os are the city's other significant gangs, but exist in much fewer numbers. The Indian Posse, known as the Warriors' "farm team," was formed in 1990 and has not yet matched the degree of organization the Manitoba Warriors have achieved, but both gangs have successfully spread across rural Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Northwestern Ontario. Recent efforts from an anti-gang task force in Winnipeg in 2001, however, won a national law enforcement award for its work in Operation Snow, a criminal intelligence operation that sentenced 35 Warriors to prison on various drug and weapons charges, and allegedly reduced the Warriors to a gang "in name only" (Winnipeg Free Press, 24 November 2001). A highlight from these take-downs included the conviction of former Vice-President Roger Kyle Sanderson in 2000, a Warrior kingpin who helped torture and execute Russell Krowetz, Stefan Zurstegge and Jason Gross on Winnipeg's 319 Semple ave. At the time, the murders were believed to be precipitated by a turf war between the Warriors and the Hells Angels over Winnipeg's prostitution trade (Broadcast News, 12 October 2000).

In Edmonton, Aboriginal gangs such as the Indian Posse and Redd Alert are growing so fast that competition over resources is pushing other gangs into outlying areas across rural Alberta. In the 12,000 person jurisdiction of Hobbema, the hub of the four Native reserves Samson, Montana, Ermineskin and Louis Bull, drug-networks are being set up by the Indian Posse and Redd Alert. Fort McMurray, with a population of about 60,000, is now dealing with a new organized drug-trade, while Camrose is becoming a convenient "commuter destination" for gangs from Edmonton. Redd Alert is quickly winning the battle for the control of street crime in Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Hobbema, Regina, and North Battleford, Saskatchewan. The city of Brooks, just east of Calgary, is experiencing "skyrocketing" gang activity, while Lethbridge, just 100 km north of the American border, is becoming a rendezvous point for marijuana and cocaine dealers importing and exporting to the US. Along with Lethbridge and Medicine Hat, Brooks is also becoming known for its up-and-coming youth gang the Kids, consisting of about twelve street kids who sell crack cocaine. In addition to these Aboriginal and street-youth gangs, Hells Angels-affiliates the Devil's Henchmen, Iron Steed and Red Demons are also growing (CISA 2005).

Saskatchewan reported the highest per capita Aboriginal youth gang membership in Canada, at 1.34 per 1,000 people. After Alberta began transferring Manitoba Aboriginal prison gang leaders into secure custody units in Saskatchewan, gang involvement spread to prisons in Saskatchewan (CISS 2005). Prisons in Atlantic Canada have seen a conglomeration of drug smugglers from past Medellin drug cartel members, while prisons in British Columbia have seen the growing domination of Asian gangs.

In Quebec, prisons house 272 of the nation's 278 incarcerated outlaw biker gang members (Calgary Herald, 5 May 2006). Both the outlaw motorcycle gangs the Hells Angels and Rock Machine have been vying for control of Quebec's prison drug trade since 1996. Donnaconna Penitentiary near Quebec City houses several top-ranking members of the Hells Angels, including Hells Angels kingpin Maurice "Mom" Boucher, who was accused of killing two prison guards, Diane Lavigne and Pierre Rondeau, in 1997. In October of 1998, a prison guard was convicted of smuggling cocaine and heroin from Bordeaux jail in Montreal to the Hells Angels "wing" of Donnacona penitentiary (Ottawa Citizen 11 July 2002 ). Jean-Paul Ramsay, a member of the Hells Angels Montreal chapter since 1987, was recently denied parole from a Quebec penitentiary for allegedly running drug operations from inside prison.

Offences of Prison Gang Members

Current Offences of Canadian Prison Gang Members, by Offence

source: Correctional Service Canada

In prison, gang members deal mostly in drugs and extortion, although prostitution, murder, and retaliatory violence are becoming more common. Criminal Intelligence Service Canada's Annual 2005 Report states that "Incarcerated gang members and associates use assaults, intimidation, and to a much lesser extent, homicide, to discipline members/associates, to retaliate against rivals and to establish or maintain involvement in criminal activities, like drug trafficking, within correctional institutions." In 2004, Drumheller Institution inmate Todd Jefferey Irving murdered Alberta Warriors inmate Roy Eyre, allegedly in self-defence, immediately after he heard Jefferey had marked Irving for assassination. In all cases, in the Prairies, fights and drug trafficking are "stock-in-trade" for native prison gangs (Calgary Herald 26 April 2004).

Risk-Level

Not surprisingly, risk levels for gang members in prison are comparably very high. The largest cause of this risk involves the already high risk level of existing street gang members entering prison, but a small part also involves the requirements attached to prison gang membership, including threat gestures, defiance to authority, misconduct, and even homicide as a way to protect one's turf or to preserve one's prestige and respect. One of the most common requirements for prison gang membership is drug trafficking, conspiracy, and criminal abetting. See the Risk Assessment article for more information on individual factors that increase one's risk of reoffending.

Risk Level of Canadian Prison Gang Members at Intake, by Selected Measures

source: Correctional Service Canada

Institutional Misconducts of Canadian Prison Gang Members

source: Correctional Service Canada

Institutional Misconducts

As stated above, certain requirements of being a gang member may contribute to an increased incidence of staff assaults and rule violations. In California, for example, known gang members recently admitted to prison are asked to disclose all information about their rank, position, duties, allegiances, fellow members, and criminal operations to correctional staff, called by correctional officials as "debriefing." If they deny this information, which is frequently the case, they will temporarily be placed in a disciplinary segregation unit before being returned to the general population.

 

Reconviction Rates of Canadian Prison Gang Members, by Offence

source: Correctional Service Canada

Reconviction Rates

Aboriginal programs have recently been implemented in Prairie prisons by the Correctional Service of Canada, in an effort to curb gang involvement in prison and to reduce recidivism rates following release. Surprisingly, when controlling for risk, prison gang members were only more likely to reoffend than the general prison population when inmate were members of Asian gangs and street gangs. Specific types of offences, such as armed robbery, weapon offences and drug possession, were more likely in recently released prison gang members compared to non-prison gang members, consistent with unique patterns of offending of each type of gang member at intake.

References

Criminal Intelligence Service Alberta (2005). "Annual Report." Edmonton, Alta: Criminal Intelligence Service Alberta.

Criminal Intelligence Service Saskatchewan (2005). "Aboriginal Based Gangs in Saskatchewan." Regina, Sask: Criminal Intelligence Service Saskatchewan.

Correctional Service Canada. (2002). "An Examination of Youth and Gang Affiliation within the Federally Sentenced Aboriginal Population." Ottawa, ON: Correctional Service Canada.

Correctional Service Canada. (2004). "A Profile and Examination of Gang Affiliation within the Federally Sentenced Offender Population." Ottawa, ON: Correctional Service Canada.

Correctional Service Canada. (2005). "Report of the Task Force on Security." Ottawa: ON. Correctional Service Canada.

 

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