Gang members from the United States are increasingly making inroads in Bermuda and bringing a greater sophistication to gang behaviour, according to community workers on the streets.

And Bermudians are also heading to the US to take part in gang activities, with cultures now transferring from country to country, they claim.

People who are working to tackle gang behaviour spoke to The Royal Gazette after Bermudian Andre Trott was charged with murder following a shooting in New Jersey last Thursday.

Trott, 29, from Sandys, has been described as a high ranking member of the Bloods street gang in the States, and detectives are trying to establish what he was doing outside a North Brunswick apartment complex when the shooting took place.

Bermuda Police, who are helping their New Jersey counterparts with their inquiries, have not stated whether Trott is a known gang member on the Island.

The sources who spoke to this newspaper said they had not known of Trott previously, but it doesn't take long to rise "from a nobody to a somebody".

Community workers are linking the recent increase in gang activity on the Island to an infiltration of Americans — including the Bloods and Crips gangs — and other foreigners including Jamaicans.

One, who asked to be described as a youth worker on the front line, said: "It's in its infancy steps but it seems to be developing into something much bigger.

"The nature and level of what's happening on a day-to-day basis is a lot more organised. You get fights between people but it's not random any more.

"There's a lot of people coming over here from Jamaica, America, all sorts of places."

The source said seasoned overseas gangsters could see Bermuda as easy pickings.

"If you come to a place where there's relatively no gangsters, less gang culture, and you are a hardened killer, you might come and see how easy it is here," he said.

He said Bermudian gang members were making contacts with those overseas while at college, while making drug deals, and while in jail overseas.

"People have befriended people who are Bloods and Crips in the States. I can't say how many people, but it does happen," he said.

"Sometimes gangsters bring people in for a weekend to do a job. We are creating waves that are getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

"This is where the culture transfers from country to country.

"They will go from Bermuda to America to hang out with their friends, play with guns and bring their stuff back. They will then come to Bermuda with them."

According to the source there are six to eight pockets of about 50 gangsters across the Island. He said one solution would be better role models and more guidance to encourage people into jobs.

Anti-gang group Challenging And Reclaiming the True Essence of Life (Cartel) has brought former gang members to the Island to preach words of wisdom to young people.

One of Cartel's members Pastor Kirk Trott told The Royal Gazette last night attempts have been made to start Blood and Crips gangs in Bermuda, while Bermudians were also joining gangs abroad.

"Bermuda's a small country. It's easy for them to go overseas. They just buy a ticket," he said.

Bermuda has seen a number of murders attributed to gang warfare in recent years.

Earlier this month, up to 100 men armed with knives, machetes and baseball bats became embroiled in a huge gang fight in St. David's which left two men in hospital with stab wounds.

That fight was said to involve rivals from the 42 Crew from the St. Monica's Road area, and the Parkside gang from the nearby Middletown/Parson's Road area.

It was possibly sparked by the stabbing of a Parkside affiliate at Devonshire Recreation Club two nights earlier.

Police have been using high-visibility patrols and stop-and-search powers to try to halt further violence.