'It's international': Vancouver and Toronto gangs gain reach through social media, rap and crime, expert says

Toronto police arrest a man during an early morning raid, one of many, on a Driftwood Court home in 2007. The Driftwood Crips gang was one of the targets of the massive raid that police hoped would cripple the organization. Credit: Dave Thomas/Postmedia News Dave Thomas, Toronto Sun

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Gangs like B.C.’s Brothers Keepers and Toronto’s Driftwood Crips work closely together in the rap music business and in criminality, an Ontario expert says.

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Andrew Hammond, a sergeant with the Toronto Police Service and president of the Organization for National Gang Information and Awareness (ONGIA), told Postmedia News that Canadian street gangs have broadened their operations both across Canada and internationally.

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“This has been building for the last six, seven or eight years,” said Hammond. “The reach of these gang members now, it’s national, it’s international.”

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ONGIA is a non-profit organization that provides awareness programs and training to law enforcement professionals, educators and the public.

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Hammond said that after the Brothers Keepers formed in B.C. over a decade ago, key members like Surrey’s Naseem (Lil Man) Mohammed began connecting with Toronto rappers linked to the Driftwood Crips.

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Mohammed, a purported hitman who was murdered in Surrey in January, rapped under the names Certi2x and Wlatt. He was particularly close to rapper Pressa, whose father Mark Gardner was a member of the Driftwood Crips convicted of first-degree murder.

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The elder Gardner has lived in B.C. since getting paroled, strengthening links between the two provinces, Hammond said. Mohammed, 27, even travelled with Pressa to Russia on tour in 2019.

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Hammond said Mohammed gained a lot of credibility in the gang world because of his association with Pressa and the Driftwood Crips, a much older gang than B.C.’s BK.

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And like other aspiring rappers, he was able to expand his reach through his social media posts.

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“I think he got a lot of street cred because of his ties to Driftwood and because of everything he was putting online. He was doing the drill rap,” Hammond said. “Now with the reach of social media, these gangs are international.”

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Surrey police gather evidence after a fire at 12732 56th Ave. in Surrey. Brothers Keepers gangster Naseem Mohammed was found dead inside earlier this year. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG

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Mohammed posted incessantly, even while on the run from authorities. Firearms, stacks of cash, luxury purchases and violent lyrics were constant features on his Instagram.

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Some of his posts appeared to contain admissions of crimes. At the time of his murder, he was a suspect in several killings in B.C. and Ontario, but was never charged.

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Hammond said “bragging on social media about crimes you’ve committed is a thing now.”

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But if the posts are brought up in court, the defence usually portrays the lyrics as artistic reflections of what’s happening in communities, as opposed to evidence of a crime, he said.

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Hammond was an expert witness in a 2023 trial of Hassan Ali, a Toronto rapper known as Top 5, who was charged in a 2021 murder.

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