Asian Criminal and Terrorist Activity in Canada/findings

Despite several border concerns that need to be addressed, the sheer length of the U.S.- Canadian border, at over 5,500 miles and containing vast zones of virtually nonexistent border demarcation, make it unlikely that any amount of funding can entirely address the border issue. Canadian authorities should therefore emphasize port security and immigration policy as a means of ensuring that Asian organized crime and terrorist groups cannot enter Canada in the first place.

• Since September 11, 2001, Canada has taken significant steps toward combating terrorist activities by passing laws and allocating funds for securing the U.S.-Canada border, tightening refugee policies, and detecting and deferring the financing of terrorist activities. However, because these initiatives have been in effect for less than two years, it is difficult to accurately gauge their effectiveness.

• In 2000, about 50 terrorist groups and more than 350 members reportedly used Canada as a base from which to conduct their activities.

• Canada’s 2001 Anti-Terrorism Act has dealt a serious legal blow to terrorist organizations that have relied on Canada as a financial resource by raising funds for their causes. However, the list of terrorist organizations banned under the Act is currently 16, and includes fewer than half of the groups listed on a similar list organized by the U.S. State Department.

• In recent years, some experts have noted that non-triad organizations constitute the majority of Asian organized crime groups. It appears likely that many Asian organized crime syndicates exaggerate their links with triads in order to inspire fear. In actuality, these groups often consist of business entrepreneurs who may employ triad members to better pursue illicit activities. Therefore, it is difficult to thoroughly examine Asian organized crime without looking beyond individual triads.

• The Big Circle Boys gang has demonstrated the greatest expansion in Canada since its presence was detected there in the late 1980s. With cells present in cities throughout North America, and a willingness to cooperate with ethnically diverse groups, the Big Circle Boys have become extensively involved in the Southeast Asia heroin trade and are responsible for a high percentage of the counterfeit credit cards in North America.

• The 14K triad is the fastest growing group in Canada and has a presence in New York and other U.S. cities.

• Vietnamese organized crime groups in Canada are expanding rapidly in high-technology crimes and are believed to be involved in the trafficking of women. Their extensive networking activities have led to fear that such groups eventually will be organized into formal and structured groups.

• Although terrorist organizations use some of the same techniques for generating revenue as organized crime groups, and many experts agree that complicity among these disparate groups exists, open-source research did not reveal many examples of this cooperation.

• Faced with the likely spread of Asian organized crime groups and given border porosity and immigration laws, for the foreseeable future Canada will continue to serve as an ideal transit point for crime groups to gain a foothold in the United States. The new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which took effect in June 2002, may be successful at addressing some of the issues regarding immigration to Canada.