Pubdate: Thu, 08 Dec 2016
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Kim Bolan
Page: A1

'VISA LIFT' GIVES MEXICAN CARTELS CHANCE TO EXPAND IN CANADA

Drug smugglers will find travel easier: border services report

Violent drug cartels are expected to expand their reach in Canada now
that a visa requirement for Mexicans has been lifted, according to
government documents obtained by Postmedia News.

The Canada Border Services Agency report says "the visa lift will make
travel to Canada easier in order to establish or strengthen existing
cartel smuggling chains."

"In the next three years, Mexican drug cartels are expected to expand
their presence in Canada by sending operatives and recruiting local
airport or marine port workers with ties to Mexico," says the
document, obtained from a source.

The Sun obtained only a section of the document titled: Implications
for the Canada Border Services Agency and Canada.

Postmedia earlier reported on the increasing presence of Mexican
cartels in Canada, as well as the fact that gangsters and organized
criminals were working at the Port of Vancouver.

As of Dec. 1, Mexicans are no longer required to obtain a visa to come
to Canada. The previous visa program had existed for seven years.

The CBSA document said the cartels generally don't use tourists to
smuggle drugs for them.

"While Mexican drug cartels do employ drug mules, they prefer
shipments with high profitability and high likelihood of successful
delivery," the documents says. "As a result, they are expected to
continue to focus their large scale smuggling efforts on commercial
cargo in the marine, air and land modes given the higher likelihood of
successful delivery and much higher profit margins."

Mexican cartels have taken over legitimate businesses in Mexico in
industries such as the production of goods and oil and mining, the
CBSA report says.

"The flexibility and openness of free trade has proven beneficial to
Mexican cartels over time," it says. "Increasing trade ties will
create additional opportunities for Mexican drug cartels to smuggle
inside legitimate shipments, particularly using legitimate avenues
such as the planned international trucking corridors for easier
transport of higher cargo volumes between Canada and Mexico."

And the CBSA document expresses concern about the possibility of the
cartels starting to smuggle fentanyl into Canada.

"While China is the main source of fentanyl to Canada, increased
regulations may result in Mexican drug cartels stepping in to fill any
potential fentanyl shortage in Canada," it says. "Mexican drug cartels
play a significant role in current international fentanyl trafficking,
with Mexico serving as a transshipment point for fentanyl
precursors."

CBSA media officer Line Guibert-Wolff said in an emailed statement
that "Canada is working closely with Mexican partners to put in place
measures to protect Canada against the risks associated with irregular
migration."

"The Government of Canada will continue to monitor and address any
safety and security risks. The Public Safety portfolio, along with
Canadian law enforcement partners across the country and abroad, work
collaboratively and proactively to protect Canada's safety and
security. Combating serious and organized criminal activity is a
priority," Guibert-Wolff said.

Conservative Public Safety critic Tony Clement said the federal
government should have paid more attention to the security risks
associated with lifting the visa requirement.

"This is a concern and it could lead to Canadian lives being lost if
the cartels move in," he said. "I think this is a matter of the
highest security and I think the government should reverse itself."

Staff for B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Morris said he would not
comment on the document "as this is a federal matter."

B.C. NDP public safety critic Mike Farnworth said the information is
concerning, but not surprising.

"I think this is one of the things the government needs to be frank
about with Canadians and British Columbians. It is one thing to say
yay, we are going to get more tourists, but the reality is that we are
also going to see increased opportunities for the criminal element,
particularly Mexican drug cartels," Farnworth said.

And he said "the government has got to be increasingly vigilant when
it comes to potential for organized crime to infiltrate our
transportation modes whether it be marine, whether it be air, or
whether they be land."

RCMP Supt. Cal Chrustie, an expert on cartels, said he didn't feel
comfortable commenting on the impact of the regulatory change.

But he said Mexican cartels and other transnational organized crime
networks "(don't) respect laws, regulations or authorities in their
illegal efforts regardless."

"We know that transnational organized crime networks in Canada have
criminal business relationships with Mexican cartels," Chrustie said.

He added that Canadian crime organizations purchase cocaine and other
drugs from Mexican cartels.
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MAP posted-by: Matt