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About this report
The CISC Annual Report on Organized Crime in Canada is published to inform and educate the public. Organized crime is a threat to public safety and to all Canadians.The activities and workings of criminal organizations are often complex and can be hidden from the everyday world.With this report, CISC seeks to make the negative socio-economic effects of organized crime visible and of concern to every individual, community and region in Canada. One of the keys to success in the fight against organized crime is partnerships between law enforcement agencies as well as with policy makers and the public.
In previous years, CISC reported on organized crime under broad-based cultural-geographic groupings.As noted in the 2004 Annual Report, CISC recognizes that these cultural-geographical-based categories, while valid in some instances, are proving to be problematic in that the membership of some crime groups is becoming ethnically diverse with diminishing linkages to culture, language and homelands. In addition, the composition of some crime groups is becoming more fluid and temporary. Furthermore, it has also become evident that there are numerous other crime groups that do not readily fit under previously identified broadbased cultural-geographic groupings, but who are also engaged in serious criminal activities, many at levels which equal or surpass crime groups that CISC previously reported on in past years.
In recognition of the changing and increasingly complex dynamics of organized crime and its activities, the 2005 Annual Report has shifted its focus and structure from past years.The report is divided into two principal sections.The first section focuses on the characteristics of and the methods used by organized crime groups, while the second section highlights various criminal markets in Canada. Combined, both sections seek to provide the public with a better understanding of the direct and indirect negative effects of organized crime and its illegal activities.
In addition to text boxes to illustrate some of the criminal activities discussed in this report, readers will note a number of quotations in the margins of this report.These quotations, provided by members of the CISC Executive committee as well as selected stakeholders (Canadian Bankers Association, Canadian Standards Association, Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada and the Insurance Bureau of Canada), are intended to highlight the negative effects of organized crime on various communities and legitimate business sectors across Canada.
Information contained in this report is based on research of open source material as well as intelligence and investigation reports from Canadian and international law enforcement agencies received by CISC throughout the year. In particular, CISC relies on its member agencies across Canada to provide valuable information on organized crime activities and trends in Canada.
The report covers information from the previous year up to July 15, 2005.
