TOP COP WARNED MLAS OF CRIMINAL INFILTRATION

Organized Crime 'Has Its Tentacles' In Government, Liberals Told In
October

The head of B.C.'s Organized Crime Agency warned Liberal MLAs last
fall that organized crime has its tentacles into everything in
society, including police and "government staff."

"When I [say] government staff, I'm talking of people that are in
positions of supplying information," David Douglas told the standing
committee on Crown corporations. "Something as simple as targeting
somebody who works in the motor vehicle branch who can supply
up-to-date information on the addresses and vehicles. That sort of
thing. That's the sort of people they go after -- information-base-type
people."

Douglas, chief officer of the integrated special police unit that
deals with organized crime, told 11 Liberal MLAs about the increasing
threat facing B.C. and Canada from "the world's fastest-growing industry."

Douglas' briefing was given on Oct. 8, 2003 -- less than three months
before police would raid the legislature building in connection with
an investigation involving organized crime, money laundering and
cross-border drug trafficking.

The offices of two Indo-Canadian ministerial aides, who helped sign up
thousands of new federal Liberal memberships, were the targets of the
police searches.

Douglas told the MLAs on the committee that organized crime wants to
take advantage of the celebrity status of high-profile people,
including politicians.

"There are lots of examples of this. David Peterson, who is the past
premier of Ontario, was on the board of directors of YBM Magnex, a
Russian organized crime stock market play that ended up being
investigated in the United States," he said.

He also made repeated references to Indo-Canadian gangs, as well as
Asian, Eastern European and biker gangs like the Hells Angels.

He spoke about money laundering, and the cross-border B.C. marijuana
trade -- both things that police have said are part of the
investigation which led to the search of legislative offices.

Douglas was clearly presenting an overview of the problems faced by
his agency and others in the country battling organized crime.

In B.C., 75 per cent of organized crime is drug-related, he
said.

"Now we have poly-drug traffickers. No longer is a person a cocaine
trafficker. He's a cocaine trafficker, a heroin trafficker, a
marijuana trafficker, an ecstasy trafficker, an LSD trafficker, a
methamphetamine trafficker. They've all fused together. They are
sharing their contacts."

Douglas said there is increasing cooperation between criminal groups
who used to battle each other.

"They're run like corporations because they see the benefit of
cooperation. They share their expertise. They share their contacts.
They have created these non-traditional alliances," he said.

And there is increasing violence as organized crime expands in B.C.
and elsewhere.

He cited one incident related to a biker group where "they stabbed
this person multiple, multiple times. They could have killed him if
they wanted to; they didn't want to. They stabbed him multiple times
in the body and the head during an extortion."

Douglas said the increase in violence is a "huge public safety
issue."

"Shootings on the streets. Shootings in clubs. We have the
intimidation of the courts, the police, the media and the judicial
system," he said.

The main motive behind organized criminal groups is "profit and
power," he said, citing the fact that the estimated net wealth of
Quebec Hells Angels boss Maurice "Mom" Boucher is more than $250 million.

"Money equals power and that's the power to buy violence, to
intimidate, to corrupt," he said.

"Money laundering is the fuel that actually funds all kind of other
criminal activities."

Douglas said the face of organized crime has changed dramatically in
the last decade "and it has created unprecedented challenges for law
enforcement, not only in this country, but around the world."

Organized criminal groups have followed the economic trend to
globalization, meaning there's been a fusion of criminal groups who
increasingly use technology and are multi-commodity.

Gerry Stearns, who works with Douglas at OCA, explained how closely
the agency works with other B.C. and Canadian police forces, as well
as U.S. agencies.

He outlined some of the recent accomplishments of the agency,
including:

* Project Blizzard -- charges were laid in a large-scale importation
and distribution of cocaine probe involving a multi-level organized
Asian crime group. OCA worked with Calgary police, the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration and the RCMP's integrated proceeds of crime
unit.

* Project Coconut which led to the largest counterfeit credit card
seizure in Canadian history, also involving Asian gangs. OCA worked
with the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Customs, the DEA and the FBI. The
groups were involved in smuggling significant amounts of marijuana
into Washington state by boat from a Vancouver Island marina.

* Project Fast Cat -- two individuals charged and one pleaded guilty
to production of ecstasy and was deported to the U.S.

* Project Microsoft -- one person charged under the federal Copyright
Act for the largest Canadian seizure of pirated software from
Microsoft Canada.

Also in the last fiscal year, OCA had charges laid or anticipated
against 38 people in Canada and two in the U.S., Stearns said.

He said the total financial impact on organized crime groups by the
seizure of some of their contraband and assets was over $18 million.

Stearns explained that the strategy of OCA is to focus on the highest
levels of organized crime possible to really make an impact.

"We do considerable strategic planning around identifying which
targets need to be the focus of our investigations," Stearns said.
"Projects focus all our resources on high-level organized crime
figures -- Asian organized crime, Hells Angels, Indo-Canadian figures."

Douglas also described a new convergence between "organized crime and
terrorism," citing examples in Russia and Colombia.

He told the MLAs about the mandate of OCA, which was formed in
December, 1999 and now consists of 45 RCMP members and 39 municipal
officers seconded from their forces.

"We're charged with the responsibility of gathering intelligence on
organized crime, strategically analysing that intelligence, becoming
an intelligence-led organization and focusing our efforts on key
targets," he explained.

"We've built a quick-response team that enables us to have the
flexibility to investigate offshoot investigations if they come up."

He said the agency "is strategically placed to target the very highest
people in the province."

"We are doing a pretty exceptional job of catching some of these
people who outgun us, outman us and outresource us."