Canada homicide capital a farming district

ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Police say the Canadian district with the highest per capita homicide rate is the British Columbia farming community of Abbotsford-Mission.

The Winnipeg Free Press said Saturday that Abbotsford-Mission's current homicide rate of 4.7 homicides per 100,000 people allowed the district to pass longstanding Canadian homicide capital Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Winnipeg, which has held the unfortunate homicide rate distinction since the 1990s, had a current rate of 4.1 homicides per 100,000 people. The Canadian average is 1.8 homicides per 100,000.

The city of Abbotsford has a population of nearly 135,000 people, while nearly 35,000 live in the municipality of Mission. In 2008, Abbotsford had six homicides and Mission saw five homicides occur.

Police have blamed increased gang activity, along with intensified competition over illegal drug trade, for the community's increased homicide rate.

Abbotsford Police Department spokesman Constable Ian MacDonald called Abbotsford-Mission the suburban hub for drug trafficking for urban areas like Vancouver, British Columbia.

"We're not going to put our heads in the sand and say we don't have a problem," MacDonald told the Free Press.