Organized Crime Is Here, Say RCMP

HTTP/1.0 200 OK Content-Type: text/html Organized Crime Is Here, Say RCMP
Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jan 2005
Source: Queen Charlotte Observer (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Queen Charlotte Observer.
Contact:  http://www.qciobserver.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2681
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

ORGANIZED CRIME IS HERE, SAY RCMP

We may be at the edge of the world, but organized crime is still reaching 
the islands, say the commanding officers of both Masset and Queen Charlotte 
RCMP detachments.

"Organized crime touches everybody, whether they know it or not," said Sgt. 
Eric Stubbs, commanding officer of the Queen Charlotte RCMP detachment. 
"It's everywhere."

"Organized crime has reached major proportions throughout the province, 
said Sgt. Andrew Isles and Sgt. Stubbs in an overview of the problem 
provided to the Observer. "It is estimated that organized crime in the 
marijuana industry alone is worth $7.5-billion a year in the province."

The RCMP has a national strategy to deal with organized crime, said the two 
police officers. Illegal drugs are the top priority, followed by outlaw 
motorcycle gangs, economic crime, high-tech crime, money laundering, 
illegal migration and trafficking of human beings, corruption and street gangs.

As removed from the problem as the islands might seem, it is here. "On the 
surface organized crime isn't very prevalent, but it is here when you dig 
deeper," said Sgt. Stubbs.

The drug trade and other aspects of organized crime are having an impact on 
communities, especially youth. "It affects people," said Sgt. Stubbs. "If 
your son is on cocaine, he's dealing with the local dealer, who's dealing 
with organized crime."

The justice system is 'under strain', said the two police officers, and BC 
is becoming a good place for drug dealers to do business because of 
'liberal sentencing practices for drug offences."

The RCMP is collaborating with groups such as municipalities and the BC 
Real Estate Association to reduce the amount of drugs grown and distributed 
in the province through grow ops and clandestine labs, said Sgt. Isles and 
Sgt. Stubbs.

Another form of organized crime that affects islanders from time to time is 
credit card/ telemarketing and internet scams. Since 1998, US and Canadian 
officials have seized or restrained $34-million and charges have been laid 
against 40 Canadian telemarketers, said Sgt Stubbs and Sgt. Isles. Over 
80-percent of the victims are over 65, and only about 10-percent of the 
crimes are reported 'due to shame and embarrassment," they said.

Organized crime on the islands includes people who conspire with friends 
and family to bring drugs here. Any group which orchestrates a route to get 
drugs here are considered organized criminals, said Sgt. Stubbs.

"Crime is on a sharp increase across the province, predominantly fuelled by 
the combined cocaine and marijuana trade. As a result, we are witnessing 
the disastrous effects of drugs on our youth in even the smallest and most 
remote communities," such as the islands, said the two sergeants. 
"Unfortunately, we will continue to experience higher crime rates in the 
foreseeable future and have to deal with the ramifications as it negatively 
impacts our collective quality of life."
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