Cartel activity in Canada ‘very prevalent now,’ former Trudeau advisor says

A Canadian national security advisor says the government's move to list drug cartels as terrorist entities will give law enforcement more tools to go after crime groups in Canada.

Organized crime cartel activity is “very prevalent now” compared to at least a decade ago, says a former national security advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and listing those groups as terrorist organizations may help prevent a “national crisis.”

Jody Thomas says the government’s move to list seven transnational criminal organizations, including multiple drug cartels, as terrorist entities under the Criminal Code will give law enforcement more tools to go after cartel-affiliated criminal groups in Canada — particularly their finances — that will be “enormously helpful.”

“Organized crime, no matter what shape it takes, is a threat to us, and we’re seeing an increase in it,” she told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block.

“I would say that 10, 15, 20 years ago, we would not have used the word cartel with regard to activity in Canada, but it’s very prevalent now. It’s becoming a problem and we have an opportunity here to get a grip on it before it becomes a national crisis.”

A recent Criminal Intelligence Service Canada report said organized crime groups involved in manufacturing fentanyl operate mostly in British Columbia and Ontario. Beyond those provinces, crime groups engage in distribution and trafficking, and increasingly rely on street gangs and outlaw motorcycle gangs, the report said.

While cocaine remains the most common drug market for organized crime groups in Canada, the report found involvement in fentanyl has increased by 42 per cent since 2019. Many crime groups are actively engaged with Latin American drug cartels to facilitate drug shipments and have linked with American groups in the trafficking of firearms into Canada, according to the report.

Thomas noted that Canada has seen increases not just in fentanyl production, seizures and overdoses in recent years, but also in gun violence and gang-affiliated violence.

She said the terrorist listings will allow RCMP and other agencies like Fintrac to track down Canadian financial contributors and suppliers to those transnational cartels and crime groups, crippling their networks.