A brutal gang war is being waged in and around Vancouver as the Canadian city prepares for the 2010 Winter Olympics, authorities say.

Jim Chu, the chief police constable in Vancouver, said at least 18 young people have been killed in 2009 to date in gangland violence, including attacks in broad daylight, the Chicago Tribune reported online Saturday.

"Let's get serious. There is a gang war, and it's brutal. What we have seen are new rules of engagement for the gangsters," Chu said.

Pat Fogarty of British Columbia's Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit said the increased gang violence in metropolitan Vancouver is likely connected to the ongoing drug cartel clash in Mexico.

"The war in Mexico directly impacts on the drug trade in Canada ... . There's a complete disruption of the flow of cocaine into Canada, and we are seeing the result," he told the Tribune.

Authorities told the U.S. publication the main violence in the area appears to be between two rival gangs, the Red Scorpions and the United Nations criminal organization.