FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

VICE Canada Reports

Watch: Does the Gang Involved in the Rob Ford Crack Scandal Actually Exist?

VICE looks into Toronto's Dixon City Bloods to find out if the group is a media fabrication, a violent menace, or something in-between.

Dixon is a predominately Somali neighborhood that occupies a unique space in the Toronto's consciousness. In 2013, police raided the area alleging that a street gang called the "Dixon City Bloods" was responsible for crack and gun operations across southern Ontario. The group started to make headlines after several alleged members appeared in a photo with former Toronto mayor Rob Ford and released the video that ignited his notorious crack scandal.

But what has been classed as a cultural and geographic criminal organization may not exist at all. While residents can't deny that there are young people involved in gun violence, they say numbers are exaggerated and far from what could be considered organized crime.

VICE goes inside this community to find out if there's any truth behind media reports of the gang. We talk to the street-level players, alleged Blood founders, and members of the media who reported on the busts to see if the Dixon City Bloods are a serious criminal organization, a creation by cops, or something in-between.