Dixon Bloods
Founded2006
Founding locationToronto, Ontario, Canada
Years active2006–present
TerritoryToronto and Windsor, Ontario, Canada
EthnicitySomali Canadians[1]
Membership (est.)approx. 100
Criminal activitiesDrug trafficking, weapon trafficking

The Dixon Bloods or the Dixon City Bloods, also known as the Dixon Goonies, is a street gang based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[2]

Overview

According to Toronto police, the Dixon Bloods had been responsible for weapons trafficking and drug trafficking out of a highrise apartment complex in Toronto's Kingsview Village neighborhood, located on Dixon Road east of Kipling Avenue. Unconfirmed rumours state that one of the founding members of the gang was a former member of a New York-based gang known as G-Shine Bloods, who had relocated to the neighborhood in the early 2000s. Officers allege that they effectively dismantled the gang operation in 2013, following the year-long Project Traveller investigation.[2] Although the probe was launched shortly after the Rob Ford crack scandal broke, one of the detectives involved in Project Traveller indicated that the investigation was unrelated to it and that the probe was instead intended to quash a local criminal organization.[3] Forty-three alleged members were arrested and charged during the ensuing police raid. Forty guns were also impounded, in addition to illegal substances and bundles of cash. Eleven of the 39 search warrants that had been made were in Windsor. The officers had been acting on tips they had received on the group's activities.[2][4]

Toronto police alleged that at its height, the gang operated through associates as far west as Edmonton. Officers with Edmonton's organized crime branch confirmed that they had encountered Dixon Blood associates from Toronto, but there was no evidence that the gang was operating as a criminal organization in the Edmonton area.[4]

The Toronto police concurrently announced that with the conclusion of Project Traveller, Project Clean Slate would be launched in its place to ensure that the criminal void left by the arrests is not filled and to strengthen relations with the area's residents.[5]

References

  1. ^ Alcoba, Natalie (2 April 2015). "The Dixon Road Bloods are back: Six alleged gang members arrested in connection to murder". National Post.
  2. ^ a b c Pagliaro, Jennifer (14 June 2013). "Turf of alleged gang in 'Dixon City' has long, violent history". The Star. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  3. ^ Sam Pazzano, Don Peat (2 August 2013). "Man stabbed over alleged Rob Ford crack video". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  4. ^ a b "Toronto Dixon Blood gang linked to Edmonton: police". Edmonton Sun. 13 June 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  5. ^ Patrick White; Renata D'Aliesio (14 June 2013). "Men photographed with Toronto Mayor Ford among those charged in massive gang sweep". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
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