As Alberta gangs get better at their game, Edmonton-area residents need look no further than their own neighbourhoods to find gang members, police said yesterday.

"It's time that the community knows what's really going on," said Staff Sgt. Kevin Galvin, head of the Edmonton Police Service co-ordinated crime section.

"These gang members don't live in the marginalized communities ... they don't live in the inner city.

"They live next door to each one of you. They're the ones buying the large houses. They're the ones purchasing legitimate businesses for money laundering."

Galvin was speaking yesterday at a news conference to provide an update on the 2006 progress of the Metro Edmonton Gang Unit, a joint EPS-RCMP unit that began as a pilot project in 2005 and was made an official unit last year.

The unit was brought in to combat the "growing issue" of gang activity in Edmonton and the surrounding area during this economic and population boom, said cops.

About 18 criminal networks and one organized crime group, the Hells Angels, are operating in the Edmonton area, police said.

In a rare move, police released the names of the 10 "self-named" of the 18 "criminal networks" they say are operating in the Edmonton area: Alberta Warriors, Crazy Dragons, Crazy Dragon Killers, GTC (Get The Cash), Indian Posse, North End Jamaicans, Redd Alert, Southside Boys, West End Jamaicans and White Boy Posse.

Police spokesman Karen Carlson said the names of the gangs were released to build awareness among the public about the gangs issue.

The names of the other eight gangs, who have been given names by police, weren't released.

Cops said most gang violence in the Edmonton area is internal rather than fights between gangs over territory like in other parts of the country. Eleven of the 36 homicides in the city last year were gang-related, they said.

Police also said gang members have become good business people, except for the fact their business is illegal and tax-free. Street gangs often act as front-line workers for organized crime gangs.

In 2006, the Metro Edmonton Gang Unit seized 42.5 kilograms of cocaine, including 18 kg found in a hidden compartment of an SUV, police said.

The unit also seized 14 kg of marijuana, more than 100 guns and more than $1 million cash.