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ASIAN-BASED ORGANIZED CRIME
Highlights
Throughout the country, AOC groups are involved in the importation
and trafficking of narcotics, counterfeit currency, software, credit and
debit cards, prostitution, illegal gambling, extortion and a variety of
violent crimes.
AOC groups continue to associate with other organized crime groups, both within and outside of Canada, and to expand their association with youth and street gangs. They often use street gangs as a labour pool for their criminal activities and as a source of recruits. In Canada, AOC is primarily based in the larger centres such as Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Edmonton, but increasingly, smaller cities are used as bases where they produce counterfeit credit cards and commit robberies.
AOC activities continue to have an impact on Canadian society with effects
perhaps not readily identified as results of organized crime. As
an example, in Western Canada, over 40 children were apprehended in six
weeks from marihuana grow houses operated by AOC. The children had
been exposed to toxic fumes and fire hazards and were forced to deliver
drugs or perform watch duties.
AOC groups continue to be dominant in the importation of heroin and cocaine. Currently, an estimated 7,000 grow operations in the lower mainland of British Columbia are operated by AOC and outlaw motorcycle gangs.
During 1999, two major investigations in British Columbia were concluded. The first, a joint forces operation, resulted in 12 charges against individuals involved in an international drug trafficking ring. The ring was involved the exportation of British Columbia-grown marihuana to the United States and the importation of cocaine from the United States. The second investigation resulted in 28 charges.
In Alberta, a long-term joint forces operation involving various police forces, concluded with the arrests of over 40 individuals. Almost all were charged with participating in a criminal organization. Most of the accused are in custody awaiting preliminary inquiry and trial.
There has been a notable escalation of violence associated with Asian-based organized crime in Western Canada. In Edmonton in 1999, two rival gangs involved in heroin and cocaine trafficking became involved in a shooting war that left two people dead and three others injured. In Yellowknife, where four identifiable Asian-based criminal groups are involved in both the cocaine trade and prostitution, there has been a marked increase in seizures of both prohibited and restricted weapons from Asian drug traffickers.
In June, 2000, a major AOC heroin and cocaine ring operating between Vancouver and Edmonton was dismantled following an undercover initiative. Some of the 15 suspects arrested were allegedly members involved in the 1999 shooting war in Edmonton.
Asian-based organized crime continues to be active in both Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In Saskatchewan, Asian crime associates engage in heroin trafficking, prostitution, contraband smuggling, fraud and counterfeiting. During 1999, a drug investigation that targeted AOC was successful in shutting down a group involved in the trafficking of cocaine and crack in the Winnipeg area. Forty-eight people were arrested and charged with drug and other Criminal Code offences.
In the greater Toronto area, the dominant Asian-based criminal group is the DAI HUEN JAI (aka Big Circle Boys). Known primarily for the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit credit cards and other documents, this group has also been involved in drug trafficking, extortion, prostitution and gaming offences.
Losses in the credit card industry exceeded $226 million in 1999. This
translates to a 70 percent increase over 1998 figures. Counterfeit
credit card transactions account for approximately 50 percent of all fraudulent
activity.
The Akwesasne Mohawk Territory near Cornwall has been used by Asian-based organized crime as a smuggling route, as has Walpole Island and the Niagara region. In 1999, over 7,000 counterfeit and altered travel documents with a street value of $122 million were seized from AOC and other organized crime groups and individuals.
In 1999, Canadian authorities intercepted four ships which were being used to smuggle more than 500 illegal Chinese migrants from Fujian province into British Columbia. The secretive nature of the migrant smuggling trade precludes an exact estimate of the numbers of people arriving in Canada, although it is known that smugglers move people via air, land and sea. Like the illegal migrants from the People’s Republic of China who arrive by air, most of the migrants aboard the ships were bound for the United States, where many would end up working off their debts in sweatshops and bawdy houses.
The profit potential of migrant smuggling is tremendous. For example, criminal organizations will charge a potential migrant as much as US $70,000 to facilitate illegal travel to North America. The International Centre for Migration Policy Development estimates that globally, smugglers are profiting by as much as $9.5 billion a year, twice the annual earnings of the notorious Medellin cocaine cartel at the peak of its power.
Outlook