Saturday, June 27, 2020

Canada's 'Ndrangheta

"The COVID-19 pandemic has made the need for co-operation in tackling this threat a greater priority, with the 'Ndrangheta modus operandi designed to thrive in today's financial landscape of recession, liquidity crunch and mobilization of public funds."
"The amount of cash capital available to the 'Ndrangheta means they are well placed to offer assistance to large, medium and small companies which may be struggling with payments."
"They can guarantee a payment or offer loans as part of their efforts to infiltrate the legitimate economy."
"Families under financial distress, seasonal or undeclared workers are also prime targets for loan sharking by mafia-type organizations."
Interpol International Criminal Police Organization

"COVID-19, which for the whole world represents the most tragic and sudden pandemic of the modern era, could become an extraordinary opportunity for 'Ndrangheta, and for organized crime in general, to conquer new markets and launder money."
"We need to act immediately to anticipate the threat and counter the Mafia's flexibility to rapidly adapt to changes and exploit new socio-economic frameworks."
Franco Gabrielli, chief, Polizia di Stato, Italy

"The RCMP is committed to working with its foreign partners in the I-CAN initiative to combat the global threat posed by the 'Ndrangheta criminal organization."
"Combating organized crime and transl=national organized crime is an existing priority for the Federal Policing program within the RCMP, and the 'Ndrangheta is a component of this. We will continue to focus on working with our partners to impact the threat these transnational networks pose."
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mike Duheme
I-CAN meeting
The 11 pilot countries in the I-CAN project funded by the Italian Department of Public Security, are: Australia (Australian Federal Police), Argentina (Argentinian Federal Police), Brazil (Brazilian Federal Police), Canada (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), Colombia (Colombian National Police), France (National Police and Gendarmerie), Germany (German Federal Criminal Police - BKA), Italy (Italian State Police, Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza), Switzerland (Fedpol), United States (Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation) and Uruguay (Uruguayan National Police).

Italy's Department of Public Security funds the I-CAN (INTERPOL Cooperation Against ‘Ndrangheta) project where a virtual teleconference brought together at a distance officials from those countries that have been most affected by the presence of the 'Ndrangheta: Italy, Canada, Australia, Germany, the United States, Colombia, Brazil, Switzerland, France, Argentina and Uruguay.

The concern of police forces around the world is to cooperate in building a "global early warning system" in prevention of the Calabrian Mafia from exploiting the COVID-19 economic collapse, in plans to infiltrate national economic infrastructure. According to Interpol, the 'Ndrangheta represents "the most extensive and powerful criminal organization in the world".'

Italy's southern region of Calabria gave birth to the 'Ndrangheta, which then spread to over 30 countries, including Canada, where it has a long established and strong presence. Police officials from eleven countries most affected by the presence of the 'Ndrangheta, met for the first time as a group with a common purpose this week, but did so through a virtual teleconference.

Like any branch company, the foundational features of the 'Ndrangheta networks anywhere in the world feature similar setups and all value close ties wit their home towns in Calabria. The group's long-established presence in Canada is one of powerful influence despite its geographic distance from the origins of the criminal group. Its mobsters immigrated to Canada in the 1950s and have seldom looked back.

Their power and influence is the same whether they wield it from Italy or from Canada. The 'Ndrangheta clans living in Canada are unique in the underworld of Italian mafia outreach. In the Toronto area, the 'Ndrangheta board of control enjoys a recognized authority respected internationally; decisions made in Toronto for the global 'Ndrangheta display its strength and its recognized place in the panoply of 'Ndangheta authority.

The intention of Interpol's I-CAN project as an anti-'Ndrangheta project is to map the flow of mob fugitives cross country. And Canada has more than its share of the 'Ndrangheta mob. A group that is slated to be studied under the fine magnification of the national police force with a view to identifying, arresting and prosecuting people wanted for Mafia activism.
"It has repeatedly proven its skill in infiltrating political and economic environments, and a remarkable capacity for corruption."
"The 'Ndrangheta is an invisible threat and a dangerous criminal business partner. This is how their cycle feeds itself across more than 30 countries A cycle we must act to stop, now."
Jurgen Stock, secretary general, Interpol
York Regional Police and Canadian government officials at a news conference in July 2019 to talk about recent arrests of members of the ’Ndrangheta crime family which saw high end cars, homes, money, watches among other items seized. Peter J. Thompson/National Post

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posted by Pieface @ Saturday, June 27, 2020

Tuesday, October 09, 2018

Interpol? Interpol, What's That?

"If Meng Hongwei has disappeared in China, then of course the most likely reason is an anti-corruption investigation."
"Internationally, he is president of Interpol, but in the eyes of the Chinese authorities he is first of all Chinese, and they wouldn't think too much about his international prominence." 
"This is the new normal. The anti-corruption investigations won't go to the top echelons of the party leadership, but officials lower down the hierarchy -- ministers, vice-ministers -- are still vulnerable."
Deng Yuwen, (former editor) Communist Party journal
Meng Hongwei lives in Lyon, where Interpol has its headquarters, with his wife and children. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

Of course, these strange 'disappearances' and peculiar deaths of dissenters and inconvenient critics of dictatorial regimes are not confined to Chinese authorities intercepting, arresting and disappearing those whom they regard as insufficiently respectful of their authority. Russia's methods are fairly direct in that realm; hitmen simply shooting down journalists and members of the political opposition wherever they happen to be; at their doorways leaving home, in their vehicles, in public squares. And of course using chemical poisons in the streets of Great Britain.

In the Philippines it's the noble cause of protecting the greater society from drug pushers, authorizing police to shoot at will any suspected dealers and users as well, ridding the country of the irritation of both trafficers and victims. In Iraq, it's the random and not-so-random murder of celebrity types, mostly women, who criticize the regime and enjoy a substantial following on social networking sites. In Saudi Arabia, it's dispatching hit squads to murder and then disappear critics. In South Africa it's the ANC malcontents accusing the hierarchy, accurately, of corruption, earning their death sentence.

In Venezuela, it's starving the population, stifling dissent, creating desperate refugees, encouraging violent crime and dispatching critics to an earlier-than-anticipated grave. Somalia, Congo, Palestinian Territories, Syria, all creators of mass migration; oppressed and targeted people streaming out of their countries of origin in the hopes of escaping slaughter. So viewed in that universal light of tribal, sectarian, political, ideological dysfunction and death, perhaps it's not so bad after all, that Interpol president Meng Hongwei has merely 'disappeared'.

As occurs so often with Chinese apprehension, interrogation, prison and release, he may yet resurface, although not in good humour. The man, as a vice-minister of China's Ministry of Public Security elected to a four-year term as Interpol president, one might think that the Chinese authorities would be pleased; one of their own honoured as head of the global body facilitating international police cooperation. Not that China is that enamoured of cooperation with other countries at any time for any reason; it is infamously more given to orchestrating others' cooperation with its insular plans.

He had been one of Beijing's senior law enforcement officials tasked with overseeing the coast guard though recently there has resulted a diminishing of the high regard in which he was held, falling out of favour with China's ruling Communist party. Perhaps something he said, or did, or was unaware of, or fell under suspicion of corruption at a time when President Xi Jinping has tasked his Communist Party committee to expunge all dishonourable members who have indulged in corruption, or suspicion of same. A time when 1.5 million government officials have been punished in the crackdown, charged with wrongdoing.

Evidently, Interpol's president is just one of the many, among the 1.5 million. Interpol may regard his absence as unaccountable and terribly  upsetting, a mystery that needs to be solved, launching an inquiry to account for the "worrying disappearance", but China is unmoved. He is theirs, he is under their authority, and his disposition is China's affair, not theirs. Despite which, police in Lyon Interpol's base, are seeking clarification of his absence.

And just to think, when Meng Hongwei was first nominated to the appointment, concerns that Beijing would use his authority for their own purposes in silencing and pursuing dissidents abroad arose; now they're concerned over his absence: "nobody is safe -- everybody has got to be looking over their shoulders thinking, 'Are they coming for me next?" opined Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch,

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posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, October 09, 2018

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