Canadian Gangsters go digital to recruit, intimidate

VANCOUVER — The next generation of street thugs is literally at our fingertips.

They call themselves gangsters and they’ve got the criminal charges to back up their reputation.

But unlike most organized crime groups who try to stay undercover, they’re glorifying the thug lifestyle in the most public of forums — online.

“It’s once again become cool to be associated with a street gang,” says Robert Gordon, director of Simon Fraser University’s criminology department. “With the availability of the Internet and networking sites . . . they are communicating more online now.

“So, rather than marking territories with violence or making their presence known by wearing particular uniforms or clustering in particular places, they are transferring all of that to the cyber-world.”