Four Chinese companies as well as eight of their executives and employees are facing U.S. Justice Department charges arising from their role in trafficking materials used to make fentanyl. Attorney General Merrick Garland says the new strategy goes beyond targeting Mexican drug cartels by also pursuing their suppliers. [node:read-more:link]
An RCMP bomb disposal unit from Vancouver detonated an explosive device late February 27 about seven hours after it was found beside a highway in the south-central city of Kelowna. Investigators now are trying to determine who planted it and why. [node:read-more:link]
An RCMP officer in western Newfoundland has been charged by the province’s Serious Incident Response Team with possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. The SIRT began its investigation last summer after the officer’s activities were reported by the RCMP. [node:read-more:link]
Effective January 31, British Columbia begins a three-year experiment in decriminalizing small amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA possessed by persons 18 and older. The federal government granted an exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act last May and while it is not expected to stop users from being killed by tainted drugs it is considered a step forward. [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency says a recent drug bust resulted in the seizure not only of methamphetamines, cocaine and heroin but also 4,500 kilograms of Fentanyl and 50.6 million pills made to resemble different prescription pain-killers. The DEA said December 20 that the highly-addictive substance made by Mexican cartels from Chinese raw materials could have been used to manufacture 379 million fatal doses. [node:read-more:link]
Unable to deal with widespread gang violence through conventional policing, the government of El Salvador deployed some 10,000 troops to surround the city of Soyapango December 3 as part of a massive crackdown. President Nayib Bukele said “extraction teams from the police and the army are tasked with extricating all the gang members still there one by one.” [node:read-more:link]
Coordinated investigations by 27 Ontario police services have resulted in 428 child exploitation and pornography charges being laid against 109 persons. The Ontario Provincial Police said November 30 that the charges laid in October through Project Maverick, which is ongoing, are a “snapshot” of efforts to protect children from Internet-based sexual abuse and exploitation. “Because the Internet can cross jurisdictional boundaries, this project highlights the collaborative working happening with police services all over,” the OPP said. [node:read-more:link]
A look at why has Canada gone so long without a comprehensive Organized Crime Strategy. We have seen how organized crime infiltrates and damages the total fabric of society. This article assesses the best options for moving forward. [node:read-more:link]
Premier Andrew Fahie of the British Virgin Islands has been charged in Miami with drug smuggling and money laundering. Drug Enforcement Agency officers, who had posed as a Mexican drug traffickers, say the politician had agreed to a £560,000 payment to allow traffickers to use the Caribbean territory’s ports. A BVI port official and her son also have been charged. [node:read-more:link]
Government prosecutors in the Dominican Republic insist that a Canadian executive jet was being used to smuggle drugs to Toronto even though it was the Pivot Airlines crew that reported finding 210kg of cocaine on their aircraft. While the crew and a few passengers have been released from jail, they have been ordered to remain in the DR until an investigation is completed. [node:read-more:link]
The flight crew of a Toronto-based charter operation, Pivot Airlines, have been detained under poor conditions in the Dominican Republic after they reported finding 450 pounds of cocaine in the avionics bay of their Bombardier jet. Rather than thanking them, local authorities arrested them pending an investigation. [node:read-more:link]
A Mexican prosecutor said Jan. 25 that the killing of two Canadians at a Caribbean coast resort last week was motivated by debts between gangs apparently involved in drug and weapons trafficking. The victims both had criminal records at home, one of them a known felon with a history of robbery, drug and weapons offences. A Canadian woman hospitalized after the attack has been unable to speak to investigators. [node:read-more:link]
A Spanish court has ordered the extradition to the U.S. of former Venezuelan spy chief Hugo Carvajal for trial on charges of drug trafficking and collaborating with Colombian terrorists. Carvajal, who calls the allegations politically-motivated, fled to Spain in 2019. [node:read-more:link]
A program designed to facilitate online tracking of child abuse has been unveiled by Apple Inc. It would check imagery on a country-by-country basis, subject to local laws but with built-in safeguards to prevent governments from using it for other purposes. [node:read-more:link]
A Canadian national has been deported to the Netherlands from Taiwan to stand trial on charges that he oversaw a global methamphetamine cartel. Lawyers for Tse Chi Lop, who was arrested in Amsterdam in January and detained on a 2019 Australian warrant, say he was deported illegally as part of an international scheme to ensure a long sentence in the Dutch court. [node:read-more:link]
