Organized crime operations on the increase across Alberta

By LegalMatters Staff • After an early morning shooting left a 40-year-old man dead in the quiet community of Douglasdale outside of Calgary recently, police reported the killing had “all the hallmarks of organized crime.” 

Weeks before, police searched 17 properties in Canmore, Alta., as part of a multi-provincial operation that recovered more than 100 stolen vehicles, trailers, farming equipment and other machinery.

Those are just two examples of organized crime in Alberta. According to Calgary criminal lawyer Greg Dunn, the term ”organized crime” refers to any grouping of three or more people who band together to conduct illegal operations. While that includes street gangs as well as outlaw motorcycle gangs, he explains that most organized crime members do not wear badges or specific colours. 

“They realize gang-specific symbols can be used to identify their affiliation in a court case,” Dunn says. “They may also have a normal job to supplement their criminal activities.”

The Edmonton Police Services notes that of the 41 homicides committed in Alberta’s capital in 2021, 16 were deemed to be gang-related. In the first 10 months of 2022, the force says there have been 24 declared homicides of which four were related to gangs and three to drugs.