Pubdate: Tue, 18 Dec 2007
Source: Windsor Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2007 The Windsor Star
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/windsor/windsorstar/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501
Author: Meagan Fitzpatrick, CanWest News Service
Note: Report is at http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/drugs/drugs_2006_e.htm

ORGANIZED CRIME MORE SOPHISTICATED

Driving Force Behind Drugs In Canada: RCMP

OTTAWA (CNS) - Organized crime is continuing to fuel the drug trade 
in Canada and a new report notes that criminal organizations are 
branching out and becoming more sophisticated.

"These organizations are powerful, well-connected and are dealing in 
high profit-yielding illicit ventures across the globe," said the 
RCMP's Drug Situation Report 2006, released Monday. The annual report 
is based on seizure data and investigations conducted by the RCMP and 
other enforcement agencies.

The report found that organized crime is a driving force behind an 
expanding drug trade in Canada. Whereas in previous years criminal 
groups specialized in just one drug commodity, they are now spreading 
out and involved in dealing multiple drugs and in importation and exportation.

The report provides an overview of the drug trade in Canada and 
highlights new and emerging trends.

Cannabis products -- which include marijuana and hashish -- represent 
the world's largest illicit drug market, with approximately 160 
million customers around the world.

POT PRODUCTION FLOURISHING

That market, specifically the production of marijuana, is flourishing 
in Canada, according to the RCMP report.

Demand for pot is high both at home and abroad, particularly in the 
United States, the report found.

The report noted several emerging trends in 2006 in the marijuana 
market. Among them, it found that crime groups are producing 
increasingly potent marijuana and that there's a shift towards using 
private aircraft for smuggling drugs between British Columbia and the 
United States.

Illegal motorcycle gangs and organized crime groups of Asian origin 
dominate the pot growing and selling industry in Canada, the report 
said, and the organized crime groups will often buy pieces of rural 
land or urban properties to produce the drug.

Other key findings and facts from the report include the following:

- - Canada was identified as a transit country for trafficking cocaine 
to Australia

- - Canada is becoming a major producing and export country for ecstasy

- - There was a massive increase in opium seizures in 2006, jumping to 
124 kilograms from just 16 kilograms the year before

- - Altering existing drugs by blending them with others, possibly 
making them more addictive, and developing new processing methods are 
growing trends.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom