Expert blames drug turf battles
Sun Media
By BETH JOHNSTON and KENNETH JACKSON
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Abdullah Hussein, 20, was killed and four men were injured when a gunman opened fire into a crowd at the community centre just after 3 a.m. Sunday.
He was most likely gunned down by rival gang members seeking revenge because he was cutting in on their drug turf, says gang expert Michael Chettleburgh, who is working with both the Ottawa and Calgary police on their gang problems.
Chettleburgh wouldn’t get into specifics of this case, but said gangs are now “jockeying for position in the drug trade” in Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa.
“If you’ve got guys coming into your territory, you’re going to settle it through revenge,” he said, noting the same thing is happening here.
“I know it’s going on in Ottawa.”
Gangs are intimidating witnesses and trying to establish “brand identity,” he explained.
“It’s the law of the jungle,” he said. “There is some jockeying for position in Ottawa right now, there’s no doubt about it.”
One witness, who did not want his name used, said the party, called “Boustier and Stilletos” put on by Sophie Productions, was just about to wrap up when he saw a group of people appear at the door followed by a bright flash of light. Then he saw Hussein on the ground.
The hall had been rented out for a small wedding reception, but when police arrived they found the place packed. As some witnesses fled, others tried to resuscitate Hussein.
Before he moved to Calgary, Hussein lived with his family on Albion Rd. in Ottawa, said Abdirizak Karod, executive director of the Somali Centre for Family Services.
That’s Ledbury-Banff Crips territory, a gang composed of mainly Somalian and Ethiopian men aged 17-24.
That’s the gang that controls most of the flow of khat, an amphetamine-like stimulant produced mainly in East Africa, for which demand has gone “through the roof,” Chettleburgh said. “People are coming in to supply that drug.”
Ottawa gang members have been heading west, trying to cash in on a booming economy — and drug trade. Crystal meth, khat and ecstasy are the top three.
“It’s the cross that Calgary and Edmonton have to bear, this ‘Go West young man,’” he said. “They like the women, they like the drugs.”
Hussein’s Facebook profile — on which he goes by the name Stylez Hussein — lists his religion as Muslim, his favourite music as rap and hiphop and his favourite book as “court disclosure.”
“All you gotta know is that he was a man that looked out for his peoples,” his friend, Huda Mohamed wrote in an e-mail to The Sun.
The Ottawa Police Guns and Gangs unit is assisting Calgary Police in their investigation, Ottawa Police confirmed.
Calgary police spokesman Kevin Brookwell said Hussein and another man wounded in the shooting were known to police and likely targeted because of drugs, while three others injured by gunfire were innocent bystanders.
"The information we have because of the lifestyle and fact they are in a drug trade, we don’t believe it was a random attack, we believe they were targeted.”
As area Muslims prepared for Ramadan yesterday, Hussein’s family looked for answers but refused to speak with media.
An autopsy on Hussein’s body was to be performed Tuesday morning.
— With files from Katie Schneider, Calgary Sun