Global Courant 2023-04-29 18:59:15
Canada and the United States have agreed to share more information about gun and drug trafficking across their shared border.
Public Security Secretary Marco Mendicino said Ottawa has signed four new or updated agreements with Washington that allow the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency to share more data with partners south of the border.
“It means more joint investigations into arms smuggling and trafficking. It means even more intelligence and information sharing between our law enforcement agencies,” Mendicino told reporters in Ottawa Friday afternoon.
He said the agreements under a rebooted Canada-U.S. Cross-Border Crime Forum will allow more information sharing with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, such as the role of cryptocurrency in money laundering.
Mendicino made the announcement along with Attorney General David Lametti and their US counterparts, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The agreements also aim to stem the flow of opioids such as fentanyl, with Garland saying they will monitor the ingredients used to make the deadly drug and the flow of its components from China.
A joint statement commits both countries to “building a global coalition against synthetic drugs” that can help counter transnational organized crime and identify and attack shippers and recipients of firearms.
Drugs and firearms are presented at a press conference at the RCMP’s headquarters in Surrey, BC, on April 25, 2018. The RCMP, along with the US Coast Guard, Homeland Security, and US Customs and Border Protection, conducted the raid that also involved a large sum of money. money and high speed boats. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)
Mendicino said the four agreements “will allow us to take advantage of new technology that has come out recently that will allow us to go after ghost guns in particular,” referring to untracked, privately-manufactured firearms used by gangs.
The four have pledged to evaluate recent incidents of migrants dying along the border, hold smugglers accountable and tackle irregular migration using sensors, personnel and timely intelligence.
Still, the four leaders gave few details about what had materially changed as a result of Friday’s agreements.
“As the threat landscape proves to be so dynamic and complex, we are identifying ways we can strengthen that partnership and take action as that landscape changes,” said Mayorkas.
“It’s about meeting the moment, meeting the changes that are happening and addressing them in real time – sharing actionable, relevant information in real time.”
The statement adds that law enforcement officers on both sides of the border will also be trained to have a shared understanding of privacy law.
The US officials said the group also talked about Haiti, where brutal gangs have filled a political power vacuum and Washington is concerned about the proliferation of guns, drugs and gangs in the region.
Mayorkas and Garland paid no heed to Washington’s request months ago that Canada lead a military intervention, which Haiti’s unelected government says would help stabilize the country.
Instead, they noted the importance of legal migration routes and helping Haiti have a functioning police force.
“Both countries remain committed to investigating joint law enforcement actions in Haiti,” the joint statement read.
