Project Anarchy

"The work that our people are doing out there -- two years of effort of police officers and civilian members associated with this project -- bear(s) fruition. It's a great sense of satisfaction."
"Yet they know there are others out there who will pick up the void created by these arrests. The demand is there for it."
"It is a pre-emptive strike to stop any violence from coming through the family to our communities ... violence that we were predicting would come to our capital."
Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau

Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau during a press conference at Ottawa police headquarters in Ottawa, On. Thursday Jan 30, 2014. A joint forces police operation has resulted in charges laid against nine individuals as well as the seizure of guns and drugs in Ottawa. Tony Caldwell/Ottawa Sun/QMI Agency

This story revolves around a family of immigrants who most certainly have made a name for themselves in Canada. Canada has no end of immigrants who have made good, established ventures, businesses, become known for philanthropic projects as outstanding members of their ethnic communities, and they are heralded as true Canadian immigration success stories. Canada admits over a quarter-million immigrants to the country annually.

In that huge contingent of new arrivals it is hardly surprising that among them there should arise some whose enterprise and work ethic marks them as exceptional. Their personal efforts add to the country's wealth and diversity. They represent cause for celebration and for admiration, and gratitude for their efforts. Not everything, of course, is capable of contributing to their own well-being and that of the country in such a manner.

And then, because we speak of such a huge number and diversity of people, there are those who distinguish themselves in less celebrated ways, and whose activities, furtive and criminal, cause no end of problems that authorities must come to grips with. In this instance, it is the chief of police of the country's capital, Ottawa, who speaks of the responsibility and execution of a plan to apprehend criminal activity, avoiding violence that would impact the community.

Several days earlier a pre-dawn police raid by 135 heavily armed Ottawa, RCMP and OPP officers discovered 24.5 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of $12.5-million, ten vehicles, four guns, thousands in cash, resulting in 75 criminal charges and the arrest of Hisham "Terry" Alkhalil, along with five associates. A new, $1.2-million home that Mr. Alkhalil was preparing to move into has been expropriated as avails of criminal activity.

Handguns, military-grade assault rifles, knives and other weapons are placed on display for the press when such a raid and similar arrests are made. And they are never-ending. One cell of criminal activity is stilled, the malefactors arrested, placed on trial, committed to prison, and another pops up to take its place. In this particular raid, however, the concern was that vicious violence might result without swift action, after a two-year integrated investigation.

The Alkhali family arrived in Canada from Saudi Arabia in 1990 when they made a refugee claim and made their new home in Surrey, British Columbia. It is believed that the family was originally from Iran. Three of the Alkhalil brothers left British Columbia ten years ago after two of their siblings were shot and killed. Hisham Alkhalil and Nabil settled in Ottawa, and their brother Rabih moved to Montreal.

Now, Hisham Alkhalil faces two Project Anarchy charges: conspiracy to traffic cocaine and conspiracy to possess proceeds of crime valued at over $5,000. In 2012 brother Rabih "Robbie Alkhalil was responsible for the execution of a rival gang leader in the lobby of the Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver. He is in prison in Greece while Canada is working on his extradition on first-degree murder charges.

Ribih Alkhalil, The Vancouver Sun

The Alkhalils are well known to have worked with organized crime syndicates across Canada and abroad. Violence of an extremely serious nature appears attracted to the clan. It has taken the lives of some of their members, and some of the remaining members reciprocate these killings, taking the lives of others challenging their drug-trafficking territory.  The disruption caused to this drug cell operated by Hisham Alkhalil is geared to disrupt local cocaine distribution, and "have a major impact on drug trafficking in our community" said, Chief Bordeleau.

Meanwhile, back in British Columbia, those members of the family remaining there have aligned themselves with Hells Angers and other gangs; a coalition they call the Wolf Pack has resulted from their willingness to consort with others like themselves. Gangland killings will without doubt take the lives of others of the Alkhalil family, just as they will continue to be involved in the killings of those they view as enemies.

They represent precisely the kind of wretched immigrants who become predators within society. The pity is that in a country like Canada, they cannot be plucked out of the country and returned whence they came. In the meanwhile, we can hope that Hisha Alkhalil and his colleagues, some of whom are being sought and not yet arrested, can be put away in detention where the public can be assured of a distance between these criminals and the social sphere.