Canadian policing plus (merged thread)

[Jedburgh]

CBC News, 19 Feb 07: RCMP Inadvertently Sponsored U.S. Gang Websites

...the CBC alerted the Mounties on Friday to police recruitment ads that popped up on websites run by the Los Angeles-based 18th Street Gang, an international outfit considered by criminal analysts to be one of the most violent gangs in the world.

On one internet message board, death threats to rival crews and violent messages appeared as if they were endorsed by an RCMP logo inviting youth to apply to the force. At the top of another page on a different site also owned by the 18th Street Gang, a banner ad featuring a smiling female Mountie showed up above a dedication to slain gang member "L'il Creeper."...

...on a less humorous note, MS-18 snatched an Embassy Marine in El Sal this weekend. It was an express kidnapping, and he was later released - minus his rental SUV, credit & ATM cards. Of course, he was in the red light district at the time....

[Jedburgh]

Canada.com, 11 Dec 08: Canada's airports infiltrated by criminals: RCMP report

A national RCMP inquiry has concluded that all of Canada's major airports have been infiltrated by organized crime.

The investigation, dubbed Project Spawn, examined hundreds of police files at Canada's eight largest airports between 2005 and 2007 and concluded hundreds of people were involved in criminal activity at airports, including almost 300 current or former airport employees.

More than 1,000 people not employed at an airport were still able to use connections for criminal purposes......

[bismark17]

We had a situation like that up here. Bangers had been hired as baggage handlers and were actually leaving their various tags inside of the airplanes.

[bourbon]

The Rizzuto family in Montreal had infiltrated Montreal's airport before it was brought down a few years ago. Ran allot of drugs through there, it was a pretty internationalized operation irc. They were purchasing directly from South America. Ten airport employees were arrested when RCMP rolled up the network's remains in 2006.

Easy to see how LCN can infiltrate airports; unions, large construction and infrastructure companies, etc.

Any info on what types of OC groups were mentioned in the report? Last I read Asian groups were filling the vacuum left by the Rizzuto's in Montreal.

[slapout9]

Some scary stuff in that report.

[davidbfpo]

Hat tip to: http://www.schneier.com/ who commented:

Lots of stuff in this article I had not read before.

Link:http://www3.thestar.com/static/toronto18/index.html

Opens with:

our years ago, a group of young Muslim men conspired to send Ottawa a deadly message. Enraged by Canada’s military involvement in Afghanistan, and fuelled by violent jihadi videos, they plotted to storm Parliament Hill and detonate truck bombs in downtown Toronto. The goal was to cause catastrophic damage, cripple the economy and unleash mass carnage.

After lengthy investigations by Canada’s spy agency (CSIS) and the RCMP, involving hundreds of police officers and more than 82,200 intercepted calls, a group of 14 adults and four youths were arrested in the summer of 2006.

(Later in opening)But many were skeptical of the role played by two RCMP-paid infiltrators, suspicious they had been agent provocateurs who had goaded the accused and fuelled the plots. Some also dismissed the suspects as a bunch of bravado-filled but bumbling incompetents who were not capable of carrying out their plans. Years of publication bans, which shrouded parts of the government’s landmark case, did little to ease skepticism.

The case - the first homegrown cell in Canada charged under the anti-terrorism legislation - moved through the courts at a glacial pace, bogged down by numerous pre-trial motions. Four adults and three youths had charges against them stayed - in some cases, after having spent many months in solitary confinement. Seven adults pleaded guilty, including Ahmad and Amara. Of the remaining accused, only four chose to fight their charges at trial - all were convicted.

Finally, a jury delivered its decision in the case of final two accused, making it the first Canadian jury to deliver a verdict in a terrorism case and marking the final chapter of the Toronto 18 saga.

This series examines what happened - and why.

A very long series of linked articles, with numerous embedded videos, bios of the accused and commentaries by experts, community etc. Note the references to training abroad and coming home.

[bismark17]

Interesting...thanks for posting!

[AdamG]

Interesting group size - same as the 9-11 crew.

[davidbfpo]

Advance notice of a new book's publication (in the UK) on the Toronto plot, jointly written by Anne Speckhard, a psychologist and Mubin Shaikh.The actual title: 'Undercover Jihadi: Inside the Toronto 18 - Al Qaeda Inspired, Homegrown, Terrorism in the West'.

Mubin Shaikh is one of the very few people in the world to have actually been undercover in a homegrown terror cell. His is a story of growing up Muslim in an age where militant jihad is glorified, of being caught between two identities and finally emerging victorious.

A number of glowing reviews and several podcast segments by Shaikh:http://www.annespeckhard.com/undercover-jihadi.html

It appears to have been published last month in North America:http://www.amazon.com/Undercover-Jih.../dp/B00NMR9T46

[davidbfpo]

A new comprehensive database on terrorism occurring in Canada, or involving Canadian perpetrators, victims or targets, has added another tool to the belts of policymakers focused on anti-terrorism efforts. The open-source Canadian Incident Database is available for free at extremism.ca. It captures unclassified incidents from 1960 to present, including hoaxes and threats. Data was drawn from more than a dozen existing datasets...

Link:http://www.embassynews.ca/news/2015/...qrcvw5.twitter

We should all have such information, even better if linked to criminal proceedings and the result.

[AdamG]

One of two Canadian soldiers hit by a car driven by a Quebec man whom authorities said had been “radicalized” by Islamists has died of his injuries.

The Associated Press, citing Quebec provincial police, reported that the soldier had died of his injuries early Tuesday after being struck by the car Monday. The soldier’s name has not been released at the request of his family.

I will not name the scumbag perpetrator. If you want to know more, then
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014...ne-dead-video/

[Bill Moore]

Made headline news in the U.S. today, along with: the three teenage girls who attempted to join ISIS (youngest was 15 I believe): and talking heads (supposed experts on terrorism) on numerous main stream news channels claiming that the U.S. is at a greater risk of a terrorist attack now than before we started bombing ISIS. Hopefully no one is surprised by the idea if you bomb somebody they want to attack you in return. In this case they desired, and continue to desire, to attack the U.S., but now they have with a greater sense of urgency, and in their mind justification to do so.

In the big scheme of things the numbers of those being self-radicalized in the U.S. are still relatively low compared to Western Europe. Nonetheless, it does present a high degree of uncertainty for security officials trying to track and prevent threats. Any dickweed, like the Canadian kid who committed homicide in the name of Allah, can pop up almost anywhere at anytime. 99% of the time their actions will be limited in scope as it relates to physical damage or harm to our citizens, but those actions will have disproportionate psychological effects beyond the physical effects of the attack. At least until this is accepted as part of a new normal. When it is, then the terrorists will come face to face with the Red Queen effect, and then they'll focus on another 9/11 scale attack (should assume they are anyway).

That begs the question, should we continue to reward the media for hyping these attacks to convince the extremists they're having an impact, or down play the attacks in the media to further motivate the terrorists to conduct larger scale attacks? Not sure it makes a difference one way or the other, some will always pursue larger scale attacks, but in theory, admittedly a weak theory, it could discourage others if they think they are achieving their ends with these pin prick attacks.

[AmericanPride]

I'm not familiar with the details of this specific attack, so I won't comment on it. But to put terrorism in Canada in context, here are some interesting statistics from the Global Terrorism Database from 1970 to 2013.

There have been a total of 68 attacks, averaging 1.5 year, with the most in 1982, 1995, and 2000, and 2008 (5 each). There have been a total of 337 deaths, with 331 (98.21%) in 1985. That was the bombing of Air India Flight 182 departing Montreal, perpetrated by Sikh radicals living in Canada targeting India. The other casualty producing event that year was a bombing at a commuter train station by an American war vet.

Of the 68 attacks, only 9 (13.24%) targeted government, police, or military, with 48 (70.59%) targeting 'Other' (i.e. businesses, journalists, etc).

The vast majority of attacks are not lethal, with only 9 producing fatalities. And only three (4.41%) lethal attacks were committed by firearms and six (8.82%) committed by explosives. In fact, there hasn't been an attack by firearms since 1998 and no suicide attacks. Compared to the U.S. where the majority of fatal terrorist attacks are perpetrated by firearms. Bombings are a particular favorite in Canada, totaling 48 (70.59%) such attacks with 8 (11.76%) firearm attacks.

What surprised me was the variety of threat groups, even if relatively inactive (at least compared to threat groups in the U.S.); everyone from Hamas and Sikhs, to right-wing radicals and American veterans.

[slapout9]

What about the attack on Parliament and the National War Memorial?

[davidbfpo]

What about the attack on Parliament and the National War Memorial?

It has been interesting to follow some Canadians on Twitter, all of whom know Canada's recent history of political violence / terrorism.

Now it appears this latest attack, a murder and then an attack on parliament, are being described as a 'lone wolf' attack, by a man with a vary mixed background:

B0tg5ozIAAAhbW1.jpg

[AdamG]

Mobsters around Toronto are on the brink of armed warfare in a brewing feud between some of the world’s most powerful and wealthiest gangster clans, according to wiretaps secretly recorded in Italy.

Friction between Mafia families in Canada has already triggered one brazen murder, an unsolved shooting last year outside a café in Woodbridge, north of Toronto, authorities in Italy warn after listening to private conversations between an accused mafioso who returned to Italy from Toronto.

The allegations on the inner workings of Ontario-based mob families are revealed in documents prepared by prosecutors in Italy in a sweeping anti-Mafia case targeting the “elite” of the underworld.

http://www.canada.com/news/toronto+b...566/story.html

[davidbfpo]

An interesting example of an ISIS sympathizer, a white convert, who is active online and required to enter into a 'Peace Bond', alongside bail conditions - deemed low risk. Then the FBI acquire information on an unknown suspect planning an attack, alert the RCMP and they decide this man is the suspect. In a confrontation he is shot dead.

Read on:http://www.cbc.ca/news/terror-threat...rcmp-1.3715969

A shorter news story:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37053521