COLUMBIA - State Attorney General Henry McMaster said the gang problem in South Carolina is growing, and he plans to use a new tool to fight it.

McMaster said Wednesday that his office would begin using the state grand jury's drug jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute drug-related gang activity.

Gang members often are uncooperative or silent on drug investigations, leading to dead ends for police, McMaster said. But when the grand jury is involved, gang members can be compelled to testify.

If they refuse to cooperate, they could be jailed for contempt, he said.

The state grand jury has investigative and prosecutorial powers over multijurisdictional drug offenses, obscenity, public corruption, election fraud, computer-crime violations, terrorism and securities fraud.

It's used when regular police investigative techniques are not adequate for the case and require the state grand jury's ability to compel testimony and subpoena records, documents and evidence.

McMaster said the state grand jury will issue an official report on gang activity in South Carolina after completing investigations and prosecutions.

"With the use of the state grand jury, we believe we will be fully equipped to attack this problem with the same force and ferocity that these gangs are attacking the peaceable citizens of this state," McMaster said.

The move comes just as gang-related crimes appear to be growing in the state.

State Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert Stewart said 522 gang-related incidents were reported in South Carolina in 2003; that's up from 370 in 2002.

These incidents include crimes such as rape, fondling, kidnapping, assault and murder, he said.

They don't include drug incidents, which law-enforcement officials currently have a difficult time connecting to gangs, he said.

Authorities have identified between 80 and 100 gangs in South Carolina, Stewart said.

A number of gangs are being forced out of Charlotte, N.C., Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said.

At least 15 gangs have been identified as having a Charlotte connection.

The gang members see the Midlands as "new territory," Lott said.

Lott created the state's first Gang Unit, which has been gathering intelligence and educating residents. The unit has identified more than 50 gangs and approximately 850 potential members in Richland County alone.

Some 95 percent of gang activity is related to drugs, Lott said.

"Drugs play a major role in virtually every gang activity," he said.

"The state grand jury will allow law enforcement to work our way up the gang's organizational ladder."

In addition to using the state grand jury, lawmakers have been working on legislation to combat gangs.

Sen. Jake Knotts, R-West Columbia, prefiled a bill this month called the Criminal Gang Prevention Act.

It seeks to define gang members and make illegal certain crimes performed by gangs.

It also requires prison or jail officials to notify sheriffs from the county where the gang member lived and where a crime was committed of the gang member's release.

"To the average citizen, this is a subculture in our society that most of us don't know much about," McMaster said. "It's hard to believe that it's actually going on, but it is. It's in every neighborhood. Rich, poor; old, young; black, white; it doesn't make any difference. It's all over the place."