BC: Organized Crime Is Here, Say RCMP

URL: http://www.mapinc.or...5/n160/a10.html
Newshawk: Herb
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jan 2005
Source: Queen Charlotte Observer (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Queen Charlotte Observer.
Contact: observer@qcislands.net
Website: 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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MAP posted-by: Tom Smith

To The Editor,

RE: Organized Crime Is Here, Say RCMP

If the RCMP really wanted to thwart organized crime, they would start to lobby the government for the regulation of cannabis growing. By not regulating cannabis, or government is knowingly subsidizing organized crime, and the police are cheering them on.

The way to hurt organized crime is to hit them in their funding. If we were to legalize and regulate their number one money maker, they would suffer huge losses. The pot-growing market alone is worth $12 billion annually, and that could all be taxed and regulated if our lazy and inept government would just do the will of the people, do the right thing, and regulate it.

A climate of regulation would actually give the police more power of investigation and enforcement, pot would be produced and sold by license holders like alcohol is now, it would free up a lot of time for their other investigations, and cost a lot less to taxpayers, without affecting police budgets. The best part is, the organized criminals would suffer big time.

But for some reason, police refuse to learn from the past. Prohibition subsidizes organized crime, fills jails, ruins lives, costs about $2 billion annually, and fails miserably to meet any of it's stated goals. Trying to enforce drug prohibition is like trying to bail out a sinking boat with a thimble. But instead of asking for the government to patch the leak, the police just keep asking for more and more expensive thimbles.

Russell Barth
Educators For Sensible Drug Policy www.efsdp.org
Ottawa