B.C. public safety minister says cross-border police co-operation still strong

Law enforcement agencies from B.C. and Washington state exchanged the latest intelligence on transnational organized crime groups operating across the border at a forum in Victoria on Tuesday.

B.C. Public Safety Minister Nina Krieger said the issue of Mexican cartels, as well as trends in cross-border drug smuggling, were part of the discussions at the forum attended by 100 participants from both countries.

And despite trade tensions at the federal level between the Canadian and U.S. governments, the relationships between law enforcement agencies in the Pacific Region remain strong, Krieger said.

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“It’s certainly an important opportunity for law enforcement partners to engage in information sharing but also the exchange of ideas and strategies and approaches that are certainly important for tackling crimes which are transnational and ever-evolving and complex,” Krieger said. “Criminals do not respect borders and our efforts to enforce to prevent crime to strengthen partnerships across agencies also has to be transnational.”

B.C.’s top Mountie, RCMP Asst. Commissioner John Brewer, said that cross-border intelligence sharing has already helped police in this province take action against cartels.

“We have been able to share critical information and work on files together which has gone a long ways into two things: us having a better understanding of how the cartels are trying to work in this area on either side of the border, but also allowing us to intercede in some of their attempts to get into our communities and embed themselves,” he said.

The RCMP worked closely with the FBI in Operation Hardball, the massive investigation targeting the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and two other transnational criminal organizations involved in murder-for-hire, extortion and drug trafficking. Four B.C. men were among 37 charged on California indictments.