Canada is now a “hub” for illicit trade, becoming a sort of “haven” for criminals, according to a report from an American security organization.
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This is what the International Coalition Against Illicit Economies, a non-governmental organization based in Washington DC, affirmed in a study published last November.
According to the two authors Calvin Chrustie and David M. Luna, Canada has become “a refuge for the most notorious criminal groups and threat networks in the world.”
Illicit trade is therefore booming in the country, which “increasingly serves as a hub for the production and distribution of illicit goods, an exporter of these contraband products and a haven for money laundering” .
Still according to the report, these activities would have an impact on Canada’s political and governance structures, as well as on its security and commercial structures.
“Canadian policymakers at the municipal, provincial and federal levels must recognize the scale of the interconnected illicit threats facing Canada today and take urgent action to combat the extensive harm caused daily by kleptocrats, criminals, terrorist networks and facilitators of malicious influence,” underlined Mr. Luna.
Criminal networks and their dirty money represent billions of dollars due to the smuggling and trafficking of narcotics, opioids, weapons, human beings, counterfeit and pirated products, specialists recalled.