Pubdate: Sat, 16 Feb 2002
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Jim Bronskill , Vancouver Sun

CANADA'S HASHISH TRADE 'FUNDS TERRORISTS'

RCMP Believe Extremists Get Millions From Drugs

OTTAWA -- Proceeds from lucrative Asian hashish shipments smuggled into 
Canada likely ended up in the hands of "terrorist elements in Afghanistan," 
says an RCMP intelligence report.

The Mounties believe violent extremists have routinely skimmed off a 
portion of the millions of dollars in drug money flowing annually from 
Canada to southwest Asia.

A copy of the November 2001 criminal intelligence report, Narcoterrorism 
and Canada, was obtained by Southam News under the Access to Information Act.

The declassified RCMP document represents the latest indication of Canada's 
role as a supplier of funds to terrorist groups operating abroad.

The illicit drug trade in Afghanistan has long been considered a primary 
source of money for the recently deposed Taliban, which supported terrorist 
leader Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network.

According to police estimates, most of the more than 100 tonnes of hashish 
reaching the Canadian market each year has originated in Afghanistan and 
Pakistan.

Canadian traffickers have paid an average of $200 US per kilogram to 
brokers in these countries, meaning about $20 million US has found its way 
back to producers annually.

"Most of the documented hash importations have been with southwest Asian 
suppliers that have been in this business for 10 to 20 years," the RCMP 
report says. "It is likely that terrorist elements in Afghanistan tax 
producers, thereby receiving a portion of the potential proceeds."

The report's release comes the same week the warship HMCS Toronto, part of 
the Canadian contingent in the armed campaign against terrorism, discovered 
a shipment of drugs aboard a fishing vessel off the coast of Pakistan.

The narcotics, either opium or hashish, were found in plastic bags marked 
with the phrase Freedom of Afghanistan. The defence department said the 
seizure was under investigation, with coalition intelligence officials 
attempting to determine "possible links with al-Qaida or Taliban activities."

U.S. President George W. Bush warned last December that "the traffic in 
drugs finances the work of terror" and implored Americans to shun illicit 
substances.

The RCMP report, sensitive portions of which were withheld from release, 
notes narcotics have long been used by organized crime, extremist and 
terrorist groups as a means of generating revenue to support armed conflict.

East Indian, Afghan, Pakistani, Tamil, Turkish and Middle Eastern extremist 
groups are "suspected of fund-raising in Canada by various means," the 
report adds.

But the RCMP suggest further investigation is needed to confirm suspicions 
of Canadian links between terrorists and drug traffickers.

"The closer scrutiny being afforded presently to the terrorist issue could 
(help uncover) more concrete information as to the terrorist elements in 
Canada resorting to drug trafficking as a means to finance their activities."

In addition to singling out southwest Asia, the Mounties point to South 
American drug shipments entering Canada as a potential source of terrorist 
funds.

Up to 25 tonnes of cocaine, worth as much as $50 million US, arrive in 
Canada annually.

South American insurgent groups are involved in coca production, or exert 
control over regions containing coca fields, laboratories and airstrips, 
the RCMP note.

These groups impose taxes ranging from $100 US to $500 US per kilogram to 
protect the area. 
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom