Pubdate: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 Source: Jamaica Observer (Jamaica) Copyright: 2003 The Jamaica Observer Ltd, Contact: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1127 Author: David Paulin, Observer Writer CANADA, JAMAICA DISCUSS CRIME-FIGHTING STRATEGIES TOP cops in Canada and Jamaica are eyeing intelligence-sharing and other measures to better fight rampaging gangs and drug traffickers in their countries. The joint measures emerged yesterday from talks between Jamaica's Police Commissioner Francis Forbes and Toronto's Police Chief Julian Fantino, who concludes a four-day visit to the island today. In Toronto, Fantino is grappling with a spate of violence involving gangs and drug traffickers. Some gangs are composed of second and third-generation Jamaicans who have been blamed for a series of bloody crimes that have shocked Canada in recent months. "We know there is a spill-over of gang activity between Jamaica and the city of Toronto," said Fantino, during a news conference with Forbes yesterday at the Police Officers' Club in Kingston. Another concern, Fantino said, is that Jamaica's location in the Caribbean makes it a major transshipment point for South American cocaine headed to North America, including cities such as Toronto. The two men nevertheless expressed confidence that increased intelligence-sharing and collaboration in training and boarder control would help them gain the upper hand against the gangs and traffickers. In addition, they raised the possibility of posting liaison officers in Canada and Jamaica to aid in joint law-enforcement efforts. Canada's legislators and political leaders would have to approve some of the measures. In Toronto, gangs involving young Canadians with Jamaican ancestry are on the rise, said Fantino, which underscored the need to develop a better understanding of why the gangs form in order to defeat them. If authorities fail to do that, he warned, "we, too, will become a society with more serious difficulties that we see happening here". The vast majority of Toronto's 300,000 Jamaican immigrants and citizens, Fantino said, are "law-abiding" and contribute positively to the city's vibrant "multi-cultural" environment. Forbes said Jamaican authorities had arrested five people since January attempting to smuggle cocaine, ganja, and hashish to Canada. In addition, he noted that Jamaican authorities had arrested increasing numbers of drug mules last year, thanks to increased cooperation between Jamaican police and law-enforcement authorities in the US and Canada. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek