Exploiting Opportunities
Nothing particularly new in the realization that hostile countries send their emissaries to other countries for espionage purposes. Well trained spies whose abilities to search out data useful for their home countries have comfortably ensconced themselves as ordinary citizens, freshly come as innocent visitors or emigrants to target countries throughout history.For various types of espionage purposes; commercial or military, perchance. And also for the purpose of helping to raise critical funding in support of their agendas inimical to other countries. And, too, for the purpose of acquiring and sending forward technological and restricted devices, bypassing countries' normal export controls.
These undercover agents, some of them sleepers, having invested long years of establishing themselves as 'normal', ordinary people, are skilled and determined and serve their masters well, returning to their countries of origin knowledge of the most secret high-level matters whose release can only harm the countries from which they were extracted.
In Canada, an independent federal government agency, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, created in 2000, monitors financial transactions for the purpose of reporting suspicious activity, specifically relating to financial intelligence around drugs, fraud, organized crime, terrorism and any other threats to Canadian security.
Singled out now is a foreign spy network which has been active in Canada for the past five years, and which has manipulated various Canadian banks and corporations to enable them to purchase restricted materials, bypassing export control mechanisms.
This group, reporting to a foreign country, has been successful in transferring in excess of $35-million through electronic money transfers.
Restricted materials were being shipped abroad avoiding detection, and the laws set in place which would have put a stop to the bypass. "Some transactions, reported in electronic funds transfer reports, involved monthly or bi-monthly electronic funds transfers. These had been ordered,through local banks, from a company located in the foreign country, to one of the companies in Canada reported to be involved in the purchase of industrial machinery."
What ensued was a joint U.S.-Canada investigation which led to the apprehension of a number of individuals, accused of purchasing weaponry on behalf of a terrorist group. With a sizeable number of other implicated individuals, not yet named or arrested.
As far as foreign countries go, Iran comes to mind, although the country is not named in the report. Which other country is closely involved in advancing its UN-opposed agenda toward accomplishing nuclear weaponry production? Which other country is integrally involved in encouraging, funding and otherwise supporting and training terror groups?
Is Canada exercising sufficient diligence in uncovering these illicit activities which will come back to sting the world at large, not only Canada?
Labels: Canada, Technology, World Crises
posted by Pieface @ Friday, December 05, 2008
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