The Federal Government appointed seven criminal organizations, including posters and street gangs involved in Fentanyl traffic, as terrorists on Thursday, fulfilling a promise made to the president of the United States, Donald Trump, hoping to avoid economically devastating tariffs .
The list includes the posters of Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) and Sinaloa, considered two of the largest and most powerful organized crimes groups in Mexico.
“These are ruthless transnational criminal organizations,” said Public Security Minister David McGuinty, during a press conference on Parliament Hill.
“These entities listed are groups of organized crimes that spread fear in local populations through the use of extreme violence methods and are known for drug trafficking, human trafficking and trafficking in illegal weapons.”
Historically, Canada has used the designation of the criminal code for religiously motivated groups, such as ISIS or AL-QAEDA, or ideologically motivated players, such as neo-Nazis Atomwaffen Division and the base terrorist groups, and not for crime rings.
In recent years, the US drug control administration said the CJNG and Sinaloa posters, using chemicals largely from China, are behind “the vast majority” of the fentanyl that is being trafficked in the communities of the United States.
Other criminal organizations in the list include:
- The Gulf poster
- The Michoacán family.
- Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, which began in California and has roots in El Salvador.
- United poster.
- Train of Aragua, known as TDA, a gang began in a Venezuelan prison.
The RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme, who attended Thursday’s announcement, said the police have intelligence that suggests that the posters are operating in the country.
“There is also a strong intelligence that Canadians have moved to Mexico and South America to facilitate the transport of certain products to Canada,” he said.
The Minister of Public Security, David McGuinty, says that listing a criminal organization as a terrorist entity offers additional power to the police to track, track and interrupt their financing. “We know that by interrupting money we will have a deep influence on the activities of the groups,” McGuinty said.
Listing groups as terrorist entities under the Criminal Code means that certain activities are now illegal, including those related to financing, travel and recruitment. The Criminal Code already includes provisions to deal with criminal organizations.
McGuinty said the The list gives the application “additional powers to track, track, find financing, interrupt and interrupt it.
“Let’s go after money,” he said.
Trudeau promised telephone designation with Trump
While the registered amount of fentanyl seized on the border with Canada-United States is lower compared to the southern border of the United States, that has not prevented Trump from raising the problem as justification for a commercial war with his northern neighbor.
Earlier this month, Canada was able to delay the tariffs of 25 percent over all goods after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made last minute additions to the border security plan of his government, including the promise of listing the posters.
The Canadian list reflects one from the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, published on an early Thursday, formally designating eight groups of Latin American organized crimes that also operate in the US. UU. To be “foreign terrorist organizations”, a measure that the Trump administration will allow you to improve drug trafficking. The US list also includes the Northeast Cartel.
McGuinty said Canada made his decision independently from the United States
“The listings are based, in fact, on evidence, intelligence and law. The seven transnational criminal organizations clearly comply with this threshold,” he said.
But the minister added that the two countries need to work together.
“We cannot fight only the fentanyl crisis.
The Canadian government also promised Trump what is called a “fentanyl tsar” to act as a punctual person in the archive and coordinate with several departments and different levels of government that deal with the crisis.
The former RCMP senior officer Kevin Brosseau was appointed for the position last week.
Canada had previously announced $ 1.3 billion to reinforce the border with new helicopters, technology and personnel and has promised to intensify coordination with US officials to take strong measures against illegal drugs and migrants.
In addition to that initial pile, the Government allocated another $ 200 million to help Canada’s cyber intelligence agency to collect more information about organized crime.
