Anonymous “extremist actors” have tried to infiltrate the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), according to a newly acquired Department of Public Safety document.
The briefing note did not say if any of the extremists or criminals were successful in their attempted invasion of the federal police service.
“The RCMP is aware of attempts by extremist actors to infiltrate Canadian law enforcement,” said a Dec. 12 briefing note for Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc that was obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter. “Extremist views are incompatible with law enforcement’s role of protecting and serving the public and have no place in law enforcement.”
“As the risk and threat landscape evolves, the RCMP is committed to the continuous review and strengthening of security practices to protect information, assets, and employees,” the briefing note added.
The department said that new information on organized crime was “expected to be released in December,” although no information has been released thus far.
Only a “very small number of organized crime groups have influence or access within Canadian public sector agencies or departments primarily at the local or regional levels,” the briefing note said.
The report also noted that organized crime groups could be utilizing the benefits of such access for interprovincial or international criminal activities.
Organized Crime’s ‘Influence’
A Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC) report from 2022 found that 29 of the country’s more than 3,000 criminal gangs had “influence” in the public sector. Roughly 369 groups were also believed to be trying to gain influence within the government.Only 647 criminal groups have been designated an Integrated Threat Assessment (ITA) rating by the CISC, the report said. Fourteen of these groups are considered high level threats, while 149 were rated as medium level threats. The remaining 484 were assessed as low-level threats.
While the report found that Canada ranks low for public sector corruption, it also noted that criminal “infiltration” could boost the cost of government projects by up to 50 percent, while also damaging public confidence in institutions. The report’s authors did not provide any examples.
The CISC did not name the 29 organized crime groups it suspected of having relationships in the public sector. The report noted, however, that Mafia networks could primarily be found in the cities of Toronto, Hamilton, and Montréal while street gangs were more common as a “violent subset of organized crime groups” in British Columbia.
The Intelligence Service, in its report, said it lacked information on the extent of criminal influence in the public sector.
“This represents a significant intelligence gap,” the report said, adding that the actual proportion of such relationships is likely higher than expected.
The CISC has linked organized crime groups in Canada with 52 other countries across the globe, which included foreign travel to further their criminal networks.
The top five countries on the list are “generally sources for precursor chemicals in the production of synthetic drugs, as well as source and transit countries for illicit drugs,” the report said.
The United States was listed in the No. 1 spot followed by Mexico, Columbia, China, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE is a new addition to the top five list, the report said.
“It serves primarily to facilitate international financial and [money-laundering] schemes, and as a transit country for the exportation of stolen vehicles.”
