Gangs infiltrate Calgary airport

[calculoso]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/20...01896-sun.html

Liberal Senator Colin Kenny, president of the Senate committee on national security and defence and former vice-chair on the senate committee on illegal drugs, told the Sun yesterday there is not sufficient security to keep gangs at bay.

"The police tell us there are 54 active organized crime groups in Alberta and at the airport there are Hells Angels and two Asian groups -- both in Edmonton and Calgary," Kenny said yesterday.

An Air Canada baggage handler who didn't want to be named said police have known, at least for months, about the issue and yet nothing seems to have changed.

He said he first learned criminals had disturbingly easy access to moving everything from knives to drugs by bypassing security checks when someone told him, not in so many words, to mind his own business.

"He told me he would give me $1,500 every two weeks to look the other way," he said.

Amazing that they can get away with this...

[Daradon]

Color me surprised.

No wait, is it orange or green that's supposed to be in?

If they know this why don't the arrest them?

Like with most busts they want to catch a big fish instead of a small one.

[flylock shox]

Concerning, but not altogether surprising.

The ports are even worse. Less than 10% of what comes in gets checked, and it's not too hard to make sure the bad stuff falls into the 90%. The Hells Angels have made a concerted effort to infiltrate border security for years, and given the nature of the jobs for many of those tasked with keeping those borders secure, it's not surprising they haven't had a hard time working their way in.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Damn immigrants!!

[brownie]

And I cant take a fresh Tim Hortons coffee through security after waiting in a line up for 20 minutes just to get it.

[Ozy_Flame]

I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't just baggage handlers, but CBSA people as well. My ex girlfriend works for them, and some of the people she works with seem like it could be very possible.

[chris lindberg]

Money talks, I got a buddy over in Thunder Bay (drug dealer) who should have lost his drivers licence at least 5 times by now, he bought his way out of it everytime by "giving" his laywer $1500 to $5000 to make the charges go away and at least two of the charges were DUI's.

Corruption in the Courthouse, I'd bet a lot of these guys are Coke heads. Just seen on the News the other day a little tidbit about gangs in Calgary, they were saying the gangs and drug trade is being fueled from the people in the downtown office buildings and not the junkie's on the street.

[missdpuck]

Send in the Goodfellas....

[CGYTransplant]

Originally Posted by chris lindberg

Money talks, I got a buddy over in Thunder Bay (drug dealer) who should have lost his drivers licence at least 5 times by now, he bought his way out of it everytime by "giving" his laywer $1500 to $5000 to make the charges go away and at least two of the charges were DUI's.

Corruption in the Courthouse, I'd bet a lot of these guys are Coke heads. Just seen on the News the other day a little tidbit about gangs in Calgary, they were saying the gangs and drug trade is being fueled from the people in the downtown office buildings and not the junkie's on the street.

It's not necessarily that the upper-middle class are driving the drug trade....the jist of the article (that I took away from it, anyway) was that upper-middle class people/office workers/bored housewives etc. tend to shake their heads and get outraged over gang violence, "why aren't the police doing anything about this", etc. etc.....and then promptly bury their noses in a pile of blow (hookers optional). They're largely blind to the role they themselves play in this whole thing...yes, maybe Mrs. Soccer Mom gets her drugs from Martha down the block, but at the base of things, it's the gangs that are importing and distributing it along the line, and they're playing a part in driving that cycle. I took the article as more of a wake up call to these people- essentially telling them that despite their socioeconomic position, they are just as responsible for this mess as any crackhead or gangbanger out there.

[Old Yeller]

"He told me he would give me $1,500 every two weeks to look the other way," he said

So that's $36,000 tax free on top of a bag handlers wage which probably works out to around $40,000 to $45,000 a year (I'm guessing) before taxes.

Hell if I was a baggage handler and they gave me $3,000 every two weeks they could smuggle elephants on there for all I cared.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Old Yeller

So that's $36,000 tax free on top of a bag handlers wage which probably works out to around $40,000 to $45,000 a year (I'm guessing) before taxes.

Hell if I was a baggage handler and they gave me $3,000 every two weeks they could smuggle elephants on there for all I cared.

Its not the elephants that worries, me, its whats jammed up the elephants rectum thats scary. You could probably smuggle a tank in one of those.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by missdpuck

Send in the Goodfellas....

"Whenever we needed money we'd rob the airport. To us it was better than Citibank".

[Mike Oxlong]

That's an interesting article. My cousin is a baggage handler for Air Canada. I'll have to find out if he is the dude in the article or he is the dude making an extra $3G's a month.

[jammies]

Originally Posted by CGYTransplant

They're largely blind to the role they themselves play in this whole thing...yes, maybe Mrs. Soccer Mom gets her drugs from Martha down the block, but at the base of things, it's the gangs that are importing and distributing it along the line, and they're playing a part in driving that cycle.

I read that article, and I thought it was an excellent use of circular logic - "if only people wouldn't use drugs, there'd be no drug problem!" Wow, and if nobody drove, there'd be no automobile accidents either! Can I be a Sun reporter too?

There will always be a demand for drugs, so demonizing the users, while no doubt morally satisfying, is ultimately useless. Cheap pleasure - even with serious drawbacks - is always going to appeal to people and the only way to curb demand of illegal drugs is to undercut that demand with legal and safer alternatives.

[The Fonz]

Originally Posted by chris lindberg

Money talks, I got a buddy over in Thunder Bay (drug dealer)

Is that really something you want to say over an internet message board?

You've just exposed your buddy as a drug dealer over a high traffic public message board. If they wanted, I'm sure the police could find a way to get your name, come to your house, and make you talk.

I'm one of those paranoid people people though.

[chris lindberg]

I haven't seen the guy in almost 6 years now, moved to North Bay, Ontario.

[Dartem]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Damn immigrants

fixed

[moon]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

Is that really something you want to say over an internet message board?

You've just exposed your buddy as a drug dealer over a high traffic public message board. If they wanted, I'm sure the police could find a way to get your name, come to your house, and make you talk.

I'm one of those paranoid people people though.

I think it would take more than a random post that may or may not be true on an internet message board for the police to come and "make Chris talk."

And just out of curiosity how exactly would they make him talk and what could he really tell them?