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While high levels of autonomy are common, the small size of these cells provide significant benefits since membership can be chosen from trusted associates, compliance to the criminal enterprise can be monitored closely, and the group is difficult to penetrate by law enforcement. The massive financial rewards also argue well, even for small autonomous groups. The experience in British Columbia, appears to be marked by an absence of competition at the higher levels, both within and among known groups. In the mid-1980's, Vancouver saw a significant crime war with the death of three of four recent Russian immigrants who attempted to claim a share of the region's lucrative drug market, and today we are witnessing others as various street gangs in the Vancouver region compete for elements of same drug trade. While violence continues to be a constant with respect to organized crime activities within this region, those acts of violence appear focused on resolving supply and distribution problems, and the absence of retaliatory acts of violence suggest the existence of a possible monopoly, or at least an oligopoly, within local organized crime structures. While British Columbia further displays indicators of serious organized crime influence such as the proliferation of marijuana grow operations, which some estimate to number between seven and ten thousand throughout the province, given the current social attitude towards marijuana usage this is an issue which could easily be discounted as not compelling significant police attention. A number of factors argue against that proposition. The significant profits accrue to senior members of known organized crime groups, with the actual growers and tenders receiving very modest remuneration. (In fact many are working off gambling debts, or are recent immigrants "indentured" to criminal benefactors, or are club associates and hang arounds.) Further, the consuming marihuana market is almost entirely American, influenced in no small way by the premium that "B.C. Bud" commands. Distribution systems for this volume of product requires reasonably elaborate exportation and payment systems. Revenue from these types of crimes are frequently used as seed capital for the purchase of other commodities which offer even more lucrative profit opportunities such as cocaine, heroin and weapons. Profits are rolled into real estate, business ventures and stock portfolios. |