Canadian, Mexican criminal groups forge ties
RCMP says drug traffickers skip over middlemen to boost profits — with violent consequences
Some Canadian organized crime groups who may have used American middlemen in the past to supply drugs from Mexico are now ditching them, opting instead to deal directly with their Mexican counterparts in order to boost profits, according to an RCMP intelligence report.
But there have been violent consequences. At least 10 Canadians — all of whom are known to be “active in drug- trafficking in Canada” and have “extensive criminal associations” — have been shot or killed in Mexico since 2008, according to the May 2012 report, which was obtained by Postmedia News under access- to- information legislation.
Sgt. Lindsey Houghton, a spokesman for B. C.’ s Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said this week he was not surprised by the report’s findings.
“Our violence and our organized crime problem is being exported to other countries like Mexico. And our citizens are being caught up in what’s happening down there. It doesn’t matter if you’re the biggest, baddest cocaine trafficker in B. C., you’re going to a place where tens of thousands of people are being murdered and you’re nothing down there. Violence is an intrinsic feature in the drug trade down there,” he said.
“Canadians going there to conduct this illicit business are either choosing to ignore what they’re going into or they’re
Violence is an intrinsic feature in the drug trade down there.
SGT. LINDSEY HOUGHTON B. C.’ S COMBINED FORCES SPECIAL ENFORCEMENT UNIT
completely ignorant of the fact that they may be going into some of the most violent places on this planet.”
He cited a recent report by the U. S. Congressional Research Service, which stated there has been an estimated 60,000 homicides related to organized crime in Mexico since 2006, including beheadings, public hangings and car bombs.
The RCMP intelligence report cited three members of the UN gang and two individuals allegedly associated with the Hells Angels who had been murdered in separate incidents.
The report also mentioned the April 2012 killing of Thomas Gisby, a fixture in B. C.’ s drug trade for more than 20 years, who was shot and killed outside a Starbucks in Nuevo Vallarta.
Following his death, authorities in B. C. held a news conference during which they stressed that Gisby wasn’t an individual who was “simply on holidays.”
Interceptions of drug shipments bound for Canada point to further evidence of connections between Mexican and Canadian- based crime networks, the RCMP report says.
A Canadian and Mexican national, for instance, were arrested in March 2010 after 1,000 kilograms of cocaine were smuggled into B. C. on a sailboat travelling from Panama.
“Some Canadian organized crime groups have broadened their scope and are now dealing with Mexican criminals in Mexico in attempts to secure a direct supply of drugs, notably cocaine, thereby eliminating the middleman and increasing their profits,” the report states.
An accompanying report states that violence targeting Canadians in Mexico “may represent a reverse order of events in which Canadian criminal disputes and retaliatory actions are making their way South.”
Intelligence officials also point out there is evidence that individuals of Mexican origin have travelled to this country, importing cocaine to Canada and then delivering to overseas markets, “as Canada has expanded its role as a transit country.”
They say many organized crime groups continue to corrupt Canadian officials, including border guards, to facilitate the smuggling of drugs into the country.