CANADIAN AIRPORTS INFILTRATED BY ORGANIZED CRIME: RCMP

Members of organized criminal gangs have infiltrated Canadian
airports, targeting hundreds of airport workers to help them carry out
illegal activities, primarily drug smuggling, according to a recently
unclassified RCMP report.

Project Spawn, a two-year assessment by the RCMP of police reports at
eight Canadian airports, including the Ottawa International Airport,
states that "organized crime is clearly present at Canada's Class 1
international airports," which, in addition to Ottawa, include
airports in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal
and Halifax.

"Organized crime groups will attempt to exploit airports by corrupting
existing employees or by placing criminal associates into the airport
workforce," the report states. "Criminal networks are known to bribe
employees to ignore criminality or to assist in criminal activities,
including drug trafficking or theft. The success of organized crime
groups at airports depends on their ability to take advantage of
security gaps to move contraband without being subject to scrutiny."

The report focuses primarily on criminal activity at Canada's largest
airports in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, where 38 of the report's
58 identified gangs had established links.

The Ottawa International Airport is mentioned rarely in the report,
but it is noted as one of the main destinations of khat smuggling in
the country.

Khat, or catha edulis, is the green leaf of a plant native to East
Africa. Chewing khat is an ancient tradition for Somali, Yemeni,
Ethiopian and Kenyan people, and it remains popular among the East
African diaspora, for whom it is often used as a social stimulant
before or after meals.

The drug is not illegal in Britain, and the report notes that 57 per
cent of seizures included in the report were from passengers arriving
from Britain.

The report states that in the two-year assessment period, there were a
total of 335 smuggling cases involving khat, far more than any other
drug or commodity.

Of the 58 organized crime groups identified in the RCMP's report, only
two were found to be importing khat.

Ottawa police Chief Vern White said police haven't seen much evidence
of khat being smuggled in recent years, but he is concerned about the
report's findings of the number of criminal organizations operating in
airports.

"That's a huge concern for me, because once you're in an airport, you
can be anywhere," he said, adding that once someone is on the secure
side, they can travel domestically much more freely.

"I'm pleased that we're not singled out, but I'm concerned because
these are still major airports."

Although the study didn't focus on terrorism, it warned that airport
staff compromised by criminal activity can be easily exploited by
sophisticated terrorist groups.

"(Airport) staff can be bribed to ignore criminality or paid large
sums to assist in drug trafficking or theft," said the RCMP.