Pubdate: Wed, 04 Mar 2009 Source: Toronto Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2009 The Toronto Star Contact: http://www.thestar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456 Author: Jennifer Ditchburn, Canadian Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/mexico MEXICAN DRUG WAR SPILLING INTO CANADA Police Say Gang Activity In Vancouver, Elsewhere Is 'Directly Related' To Relentless Cartel Wars OTTAWA - The increase in gang violence on the streets of Vancouver and other Canadian cities has direct ties to the grisly drug-cartel wars that have terrorized Mexico and some American border towns, say Canadian and U.S. police. Violence has reached a fever pitch in parts of Mexico, where the government of President Felipe Calderon has sent in 45,000 soldiers and 5,000 federal police officers to try to curb cartel activity. More than 7,000 people have died in the last two years, with 1,000 deaths in January alone. The United States has felt the impact, with the cartels sending assassins across the border and more and more cells springing up across the country to distribute cocaine from the south. Those distribution lines ultimately lead to Canada, making this country far from immune to what's going on in Mexico, says RCMP Supt. Pat Fogarty. Recent gang-related violence in British Columbia and elsewhere is "directly related to this Mexican war," he said yesterday. Almost all cocaine in Canada comes via Mexico, the hub for South American producers. Canadian-based organized crime groups buy the drug either directly from the cartels in Mexico, or from middlemen in Los Angeles and other American cities. When the supply of cocaine is hampered by crackdowns and the price goes up, says Fogarty, competition for the remaining kilos gets tense in Canada. The bigger players with good links to the south prevail, leaving the smaller ones scrambling. "People are running around trying to find other sources of cocaine. The price goes up and the guns come out," said Fogarty. Canada came up several times at a high-profile U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration news conference last week. "From Washington to Maine, we have disrupted this cartel's domestic operations - arresting U.S. cell heads ... and seriously impacting their Canadian drug operations as well," acting administrator Michele Leonhart said. Peter Kent, minister of state for the Americas, said the Canadian government is collaborating with Mexico on several levels to help it tackle the drug problem, including co-operation at political, military and police levels. He said security throughout the region will be a dominant issue at the upcoming Summit of the Americas. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin