The Chatham Daily News

A lecturer on organized crime has warned a summit of police
and government officials in Toronto this week that Canada has become
one of the world's most important hubs for global crime syndicates.

It was a speech that should send a frightening message to law
enforcement officials who were warned that the country is quickly
becoming a hub for international drug trafficking, organized fraud
and corresponding money-laundering operations by many crime
syndicates.

Much of the focus of the problem seems to centre around Canada's
revolving immigration door which lets everyone in regardless of
their criminal past, according to the lecturer, Antonio Nicaso, who
has written nine books on criminal gangs.

When criminals openly describe Canada as a safe haven where there
is a much lower risk of detention and prosecution than in the United
States or Europe, then it is time for the government to act.

The summit was organized by the government of Ontario and attended
by the attorney-generals of Ontario, P.E.I. and New Brunswick, as
well as senior policy makers and police officials from several
countries to help law enforcement agencies better combat organized
crime.

Perhaps representatives of the federal government should have been
in attendance so they can toughen anti-gang legislation to help law
enforcement agencies get a better handle on the problem.

August 4, 2000