British Columbia Gangs Are Heavily into Crypto

British Columbia, Canada has been a hotspot for crypto crime as of late. One of the big things that’s happening is crypto is being used to launder illicitly funds garnered by organized crime rings.

British Columbia: The Biggest Crypto Crime Spot?

In a recent interview, Hilary Morden – an expert on gangs in British Columbia – shared the information she had on the topic. She has spoken with more than 100 individual gang members, mostly in 2016 and 2017 through a research program at Simon Fraser University, and she has taught classes on forensic psychology and criminology. She stated:

Over a two-year period, I got maybe one or two interviews a week. Then at my peak, I was doing about two or three a day. (They) want to unburden their souls. That’s why (I think) they talk to me. I am a good listener, and I don’t judge. It is cathartic, and who doesn’t want to talk about their life story, right?

She says she’s interviewed gang members on virtually every level, from simple street dealers to high-ranking “officers” in major crime syndicates. She says that most of the gang members in British Columbia can rake in millions of dollars committing illicit acts. They can purchase multiple properties and provide for their families, but they also wake up every day with the idea that this could be their last moment on Earth. She said:

A lot of (the older gang members) are looking forward to the day that they retire, if they manage to stay alive of course. I talked to a guy who bought himself a ranch somewhere near Kamloops or Merritt. He also bought a house for two of his cousins, his mom, his baby mama… everybody got a house.

She also says that aside from facing death every morning, noon, and night, they’re constantly having to look for ways to prevent themselves from getting caught. That’s why as they’ve gotten older, they’ve made their units small enough to evade detection. Most gang units don’t exceed seven people.

Finding New Ways to Hide Money

Staff sergeant Lindsay Houghton of the anti-gang force in British Columbia said:

It’s a bit like a pyramid. At the top of the pyramid, you have your long-established, higher-level groups, household names like the Hells Angels, United Nations, Wolfpack Alliance, and Brother’s Keepers. They are essentially the puppet masters. As you go down the pyramid, the more and more it becomes street level. The goal of those at the top is to insulate themselves, to not take any collateral damage and to not get involved in the fighting.

Morden concluded by saying that while most gang members used to spend their money as soon as they got it, they have now found creative ways (i.e., crypto accounts) of hiding it.