The GRC commissioner, Mike Duheme, said that a federal decision to list the cartels of organized crime as terrorist warbles to combat fentanyl trafficking would give the rise more tools to pursue charges and enforce The law.
In an interview Thursday, Duheme also said that he sees the value of the government’s plan to appoint a national fentanyl tsar, because it would allow a person in one point to see a global image of manufacturing and distribution dangerous.
President Donald Trump threatened to impose rigorous prices against Canada, citing the flow in the south of migrants and drugs, including fentanyl.
The statistics of American border patrols show that less than one percent of the seized fentanyl are on the northern border.
Trump has accepted a one-month break on prices while the United States evaluates whether Canada’s recent shares meet his requests.
The federal government unveiled a $ 1.3 billion plan in December to strengthen security and surveillance at the Canada-American border. He announced additional plans this week for a Fentanyl TSAR, a new ability to collect information on organized transnational crime and a decision to list the drug cartels as a terrorist organization.
The registration process begins with intelligence reports which indicate whether an organization has knowingly carried out, attempted to carry out, participate or facilitate a terrorist activity.
If the Minister of Public Security considers that the threshold has been reached, the minister may recommend to the federal office that the organization be added to the list. The list is then published if the firm agrees with the recommendation.
A listed group is not prohibited and being listed is not a crime – but the designation actually genuges the assets and the goods of a listed group, which are also subject to a crisis or a confiscation.
“It is an additional tool for the application of laws when we consider restoration of rest,” said Duheme.
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The term “cartel” could evoke the notions of drug lords conspired in the countries of Latin America.
Duheme noted that a cartel can be defined as a group of independent market participants who end and agree not to compete with each other.
“You can use the term cartel for any group of organized crimes,” he said. “Because they divide the territory, they want to make sure that the market price is the same.”
Gazon wars only occur when “people are too hungry” and want to extend their territory, he said.
“I think there are a lot of Moto Outlaw gangs that can also be qualified as cartels,” he added.
A recent report on Canada’s criminal intelligence services said that the organized crime groups involved in the manufacture of fentanyl operates mainly in British Columbia and Ontario. Beyond these provinces, the crime groups engage in distribution and traffic, and count more and more on street gangs and motorcycle gangs outlaws, according to the report.
The Minister of Public Security, David McGuinty, was asked Thursday if the planned terrorist lists could include motorcycle outlaw gangs.
“We will have more to say about this registration process and which is on this list in due time,” he said.
Duheme also said that the Private Council office was still working to define the role of Fentanyl Tsar.
But he suggested that the Czar would collect information from the RCMP and other agencies to provide the Prime Minister and the Cabinet with a general feeling of “everything that is happening in Canada with regard to fentanyl”.
McGuinty said Thursday that the mandate of the new position would soon be finalized.
“The role of Fentanyl Tsar will be to help us integrate what is a challenge in the whole of society,” he said.
“Fentanyl is a problem with foreign affairs. It is a question of applying the law. It is an intelligence problem. It is a public health problem. It is a tracing problem in terms of ingredients that end up being used in the production of fentanyl, precursors. »»
Federal Border Security Plan announced in December included an air intelligence working group for Canada’s border surveillance, using helicopters, drones and surveillance towers.
Canada has also proposed in the United States the creation of a North American “joint strike force” to target organized crime groups that work through borders.
Duheme said the RCMP planned to rent two Black Hawk helicopters next year to complete the pair that started patrolling the border last month.
He said that the Canadian joint strike force component would involve five RCMP officers teams and others across the country to focus solely on fentanyl, “dealerships to laboratories at the flow of precursors”.
The strike force will also involve teams in the United States who collaborate with their Canadian counterparts, said Duheme.
Although the quantity of fentany from Canada is relatively low, and the number of migrants in southern southern direction by the American border patrol has decreased considerably, McGuinty said that the concerns of the United States should be taken seriously.
“I think we should listen carefully to everything that comes from the White House and act accordingly,” he said. “But what we are really focusing on at the moment is public security.”
McGuinty said he had reminded American officials that illicit drugs are also moving north.
“This is a double-meaning street,” he said. “The fentanyl crisis is particularly blatant because fentanyl is so deadly – it’s deadly in Canada and it’s deadly in the United States.”
– with a file from Nick Murray
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press
