Wednesday, January 26, 2000
Guns getting to gangs
Cops want to stop the flow

By IAN MCDOUGALL, EDMONTON SUN
Alberta cops want a province-wide task force to stem the growing tide of black-market guns flowing to gang members.

“When it comes to street gangs, the preferred weapon is a handgun,” said Sgt. Jon Netelenbos, president of the Alberta Federation of Police Associations. “One could easily imagine where they acquired them – certainly not legally.”

It’s tough to get an accurate count of illegal guns in Alberta, but Netelenbos knows there’s more firearms from reports from his fellow cops.

“We know the gang situation and many more members of gangs are carrying firearms. As these gangs enlarge, so does the possession of firearms.”

An average of 260 smuggled handguns are seized at the Alberta-U.S. border each year by Canada Customs.

“The gang business is sort of like an industry – and it’s a growth industry.”

Two teenage girls were convicted Dec. 6 in Edmonton of transporting illegal guns for a local street gang.

The 15- and 17-year-olds, who cannot be identified, were found guilty of five charges of possessing prohibited and restricted weapons.

The girls were arrested Aug. 13 at the downtown Greyhound bus depot after arriving from Vancouver. Police found a Smith and Wesson .357 Magnum revolver, an automatic .380-calibre Jennings pistol, a semi-automatic .22-calibre pistol with two silencers and assorted ammunition.

Calgary’s Netelenbos, a cop for 29 years, said police are increasingly wary when encountering gang members.

“When you stop members of those gangs you know you have to be careful because you can expect firearms,” he said.

In Canada, smugglers often ship parts of firearms by mail or courier for reassembly here, said Det.-Insp. Bob Frolic of Ontario’s weapons enforcement unit, a six-year-old provincial task force comprising a variety of police agencies.

A unit like Frolic’s would help in Alberta, Netelenbos said.

“There are more illegal firearms on the street and smuggled firearms than we probably realize and it will only take a specialized task force like in Ontario and B.C. to try and reduce that number.”