More than 900 organized crime networks across country: report

Meagan Fitzpatrick, Canwest News Service Published: Friday, August 22, 2008

National Post

There are about 900 organized crime groups currently operating in Canada, with B.C.'s Lower Mainland, southern Ontario and the greater Montreal area the major hubs, according to the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada.

The 2008 annual report, released at a Montreal news conference Friday by RCMP Commissioner William Elliott and other CISC members, provides an overview of organized crime in Canada and highlights global trends. The CISC is made up of police agencies at the federal, provincial and municipal levels, and various other law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

In noting that there were about 900 organized crime groups identified in Canada over the past year, the report found that the drug trade remains the largest criminal market in Canada, in terms of its scope and the degree of involvement by the majority of organized crime groups.

According to the CISC report, marijuana is one of the most-trafficked illegal drugs in Canada, with extensive organized crime involvement at all levels of production, distribution and exportation.

The production of methamphetamine in Canada is rising to meet growing international demand and Canada is also a primary source country of ecstasy for the world's drug trade.

This year's report also noted that, due to record-high opium production in Afghanistan, opium seizures in Canada have increased significantly, but were still low compared to other drugs.

A wide range of financial crimes helped line the pockets of organized crime groups last year, with gangs involved in everything from mortgage fraud to illegal cigarettes. Mass-marketing fraud operations gross over $500-million a year and the CISC reports that counterfeit or altered cheques and money orders are increasingly being used by organized crime to commit mass-marketing fraud.

Technology is also increasingly being used by organized crime groups to commit financial crimes such as debit card fraud. Wireless technology enables information to be relayed from point-of-sale terminals to people in cars stationed nearby and the stolen data are transferred almost instantly to "card factories" around the world.

The report also said that the growth in the availability and use of electronic money systems is facilitating money laundering and the sale of illegal goods.

The Internet is expected to become increasingly appealing for criminals looking to buy and sell illegal guns in order to avoid law enforcement at the Canada and U.S. borders, according to the report. The U.S. remains the primary foreign supplier of guns smuggled into Canada.

Organized crime gangs are actively involved in human smuggling operations in Canada, the report said, and there has been a significant increase in illegal migration from the United States into Canada.

The 2008 review also notes that the weakened American dollar has lessened its dominance as the currency of choice for organized crime groups and could mean an increase in bulk-cash transfers among criminals in denominations other than Canadian and U.S. dollars.

This year's report also contains a feature on identity theft. According to the Canadian Anti-fraud Call Centre, there were approximately 10,000 reported complaints of identity theft and identity fraud in 2007, with losses totalling more than $6-million in 2007. More than $1-million in losses were also reported in the first quarter of 2008. Even at that, the call centre estimates that only a very small percentage of the cases are actually reported and captured in the data.

CISC vice-chair Richard Deschesnes encouraged the public in a statement to be aware of how organized crime groups operate.

"However, it is also important for the public to be diligent in safeguarding their personal and financial information, and to report suspicious activity to law enforcement and other government or commercial authorities," he said.