Its presence has declined in other provinces due to police efforts, internal conflict and increased competition from other crime groups.
Aboriginal people also constitute a significant portion of prison populations throughout Canada, and the number of First Nation inmates continues to rise at a considerable rate.
[4] According to the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC), "The established, well-financed and -connected Hong Kong Triad groups and crime syndicates remain, to our mind, the biggest long-term threat to Canadian law enforcement and society.
"[5] In addition to Triad Societies, other Asian criminal groups, such as The Big Circle Gang, have also established national networks based in the major cities of Canada.
[12][better source needed][13] Disputes over the illegal distribution of fentanyl have broken out within the Middle Eastern community (with some being Lebanese).
[17] Major crime groups in Edmonton have been identified as most being Aboriginal, Black (Central African/Jamaican/Somali), Middle Eastern (Persian/Lebanese), East Asian (Chinese/Vietnamese) and Central/Eastern European across a similar broad social spectrum.
[18] However recently the arrival of Mexican drug traffickers, along with increased activity by outlaw motorcycle gangs, is changing the face of organized crime in Alberta especially in the major cities of Edmonton along with Calgary.
[21] Most biker gangs are composed of extended families or of close associates, providing little scope for recruitment or promotion from outside.
After the September 2018 killing of real estate agent Al Iavarone, police sources told the Toronto Star that the hit was in retaliation for previous actions against the Musitano crime family as part of a "dispute between two Niagara Region groups of mobsters who are both tied to the New York State [Buffalo] mob.
[23] A news report stated that "there has been a resurgence of mafia-related crime in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area in the last couple of years, leading police to believe there may be a 'power struggle'".
The goal of these first street gangs was to protect the Haitian community against racism from the local population including harassment from the Montreal police.
[36] A police survey found that most youth gangs in Ontario and the GTA are ethnically African/Caribbean (Somali/Jamaican/Haitian/Ethiopian/Guyanese), Caucasian (Italian/Russian/Portuguese/Albanian/Polish/Greek/Spanish), and South Asian (Indian/Punjabi/Pakistani/Tamil).
[38] The two most focal incidents were the Boxing Day shooting, a shootout between rival gangs that resulted in the death of 15-year-old bystander Jane Creba on December 26, 2005, on Yonge Street, and a mall food court shooting at the Eaton Centre on June 2, 2012, which left two dead and injured seven others, including a 13-year-old boy.
In June 2015, RCMP led police raids across the Greater Toronto Area, named Project OPhoenix, which resulted in the arrest of 19 men, allegedly affiliated with the 'Ndrangheta.
[41] Giuseppe (Pino) Ursino and Romanian-born Cosmin (Chris) Dracea of Toronto faced two counts of cocaine trafficking for the benefit of a criminal organization and one charge of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.
[46] At the sentencing, the presiding judge had made this comment: "Based on the evidence at trial, Giuseppe Ursino is a high-ranking member of the 'Ndrangheta who orchestrated criminal conduct and then stepped back to lessen his potential implication" ... Cosmin Dracea knew he was dealing with members of a criminal organization when he conspired to import cocaine".
According to the Toronto Star, police sources said that Caputo was a longtime associate of Montreal mob leader Vito Rizzuto, who died in 2013.
The Queensman Motorcycle Club established a chapter in London during the 1970s and had multiple run-ins with law enforcement lasting till the late 1980s.
The Hells Angels are the largest outlaw motorcycle club in Canada, having an estimated 13 full-patch members and 100+ affiliates in the city.
The larger organizations supply a stream of illegal contraband and narcotics to multiple localized street gangs operating throughout the city.
Often involved in the drug trade, gang members and affiliates are often suspects in break-ins, vehicle thefts, street rip robberies, stabbings and assaults.
One might have roots in a neighbourhood but members tend to join from all over".These events resulted in the creation of the London Police Service's gang unit.
[55] On February 21, 2014, the London Police Service raided a home and seized 3 kilograms of cocaine worth $300,000 as well as cutting agents$, 60,000 in marijuana and $24,000 in other assets.
On September 6, 2015, a Full-Patch member of the Gatekeepers MC, Steven Sinclair, was shot dead outside of a biker owned club house on Hamilton Rd.
With there being a large raid in March 2021 that resulted in 2 million dollars of narcotics including cocaine, cannabis, hash, psilocybin and MDMA being seized along with 350,000 in cash.
[70] The Abbotsford Youth Crime Prevention Project has assessed groups of people deemed to be most vulnerable to becoming part of a gang in the city.
Gangs have operated in Surrey, leading to an increase in the murder rate, although this almost ceased; the police claimed this was because the perpetrators had left the country.
[citation needed] There is a smaller number of other ethnic groups in the city - namely Europeans and East Asians (Filipino/Vietnamese).