Tag Archives: organized crime

Act Now Or Lose African Elephants Forever

Elephants are super smart — as close to humans as apes, yet we are literally killing them to extinction.

And they are obsessed with their death. They understand what is happening to them and their families, even identifying elephant bones and spending hours crying over them. Poaching is so emotionally devastating that it can take a herd 20 years to recover!

Legal Elephant Hunting in Mozambique

100 elephants a day are dying — shot sometimes from helicopters, their faces cut off by machetes often while still alive — just to produce ivory trinkets. What’s worse is that this savagery is managed by organized criminals who help fund some of the most dangerous terror groups in the world.

But now there’s reason to hope: China just announced it will phase out its ivory industry and there is legislation in eleven US states calling for a ban on ivory trading. It’s a tipping point moment in this fight for these majestic animals and we can make sure demand everywhere dries up by funding a flood of campaigns in the US, Thailand and Vietnam to kill the biggest ivory markets anywhere.

Elephant hunts are big business and are even organized from outfitters in North America.
Elephant hunts are big business and are even organized from outfitters in North America.

Click here to pledge to fund species-saving work, pledges won’t be processed unless we raise enough to manage this ambitious goal.

Killing elephants is serious business — as wild elephants die out, the price for stockpiles of ivory skyrockets. Now poachers are on a race to kill as many elephants as they can. In 5 years, Mozambique has lost half of their elephant population. The clock is against us and if the current rate of killing continues, in little more than a decade, there may be no wild elephants, only graves.

The news from China could be our best chance to turn the tide and with top notch Avaaz campaigning in 11 states in the US, and in Thailand and Vietnam, we could help stop demand for bloody ivory, while supporting cutting edge anti poaching initiatives on the supply side. Here is what a dedicated global team could do:

  • Fund hard-hitting ad campaigns in SE Asia and the US to dissolve demand for ivory trinkets;
  • Launch online sites in SE Asia and the US to inform consumers of the suffering and carnage to help change the culture towards ivory;
  • Support and ramp up citizen campaigning in the consumer markets in SE Asia and the US;
  • Back ranger protection programmes in Africa and creative, ground-breaking initiatives like drones to monitor remote parks.

Avaaz has millions of members across the world, from the countries where conservation is critical to the countries where ivory statues are sold. If we each chip in we can finally help put the brakes on this cruel trade and move fellow humans to respect the other species that share this planet with us.

Outfitters and elephant hunters justify their hunts as a form of necessary conservation.
Outfitters and elephant hunters justify their hunts as a form of necessary conservation.

The choice before us is simple: act now or lose African elephants forever. Let’s not let ours be the generation that butchered these regal beings off the face of the earth. Let’s do what our community does best — pick careful battles, fight smart to ban the trade, and spread a culture of compassion.

SOURCES

African elephants could be extinct in wild within decades, experts say (The Guardian)
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/24/african-elephants-could-be-extinct-in-wild-within-decades-say-experts

African forest elephants are being massacred into extinction (Salon)
http://www.salon.com/2014/01/05/african_forest_elephants_are_being_massacred_into_extinction_partner/

Wild African elephants on verge of extinction, say experts (Al Jazeera)
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/3/23/wild-african-elephants-on-verge-of-extinction.html

At this rate, elephants will be wiped out within 10 years (The Independent)
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/at-this-rate-elephants-will-be-wiped-out-within-10-years-9012557.html

Click to view on I-tunes
Click to view on I-tunes

Contraband Tobacco solution requires more than Federal legislation ‘tinkering’

Illegal Cigarettes Stashed

SOLVING ILLICIT TOBACCCO  A National Strategy  There is no debate that the global trade in contraband tobacco has far-reaching implications for society. Too much evidence exists today to deny that the black market in tobacco draws in the involvement of a host of problems for public safety and national security.  Complicating the picture is the inevitable Canadian debate relative to which level of government has control over what activities and in so doing responsibility for quelling the illicit tobacco industry falls between the cracks.

The reality of the debate is much more visceral when viewed through the lenses of aboriginal rights and commercial responsibilities. Competing “constituencies” in the debate continue to pursue support by staking out scientific, social and moral positions on the smuggling and selling of untaxed and unregulated tobacco products.  The Ontario Convenience Store Association points fingers at the Canadian First Nations as the source of contraband tobacco off reserve.  Law Enforcement warns of the role of Organized Crime – up to 175 gangs and the Italian Mafioso too!  Band leaders on reserve say that it is their right to deal in tobacco all they want so long as it helps the economic prosperity of the community.  Ontario farmers blame the McGuinty Liberal Government for “ripping them off” for 69 cents for the tobacco pounds they agreed not to grow pursuant to the Tobacco Transition Program of 2008.  All in all, things are a mess!

The provisions of Bill C10, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (trafficking in contraband tobacco), which was sent to the Senate for “sober second thought” has passed Third Reading and awaits proclamation. The Bill will pass but it will leave a sour taste in the mouths of some of the Bill’s “constituencies”, including First Nations. During the Senate “consultation” process, several First Nations leaders decried the flawed consultation process with Canada’s First Nations.

Despite the progress against contraband tobacco with Bill C-10 from a law enforcement point of view, many of the conditions that support the illicit trade in tobacco remain. Save for high profile busts like the “Sweet Dreams” takedown last spring in Montreal that netted the Sicilian Mafia connection, the slow burn of the illicit tobacco trade has caused convenience store closures, stripped billions of dollars from federal and provincial tax coffers, made criminals out of law abiding farmers, and has opened new routes to marketing cigarettes to children on school grounds.

 

A National Approach

The solution to the many problems associated with contraband tobacco require more than just tinkering with federal legislation yet again. The complexities of the issue require a complete re-thinking of the problem of illicit tobacco and how best to deal with it.

A truly novel and potentially much more effective way of dealing with all tobacco regulation in Canada would be to appoint a National Tobacco Ombudsman (NTO) with sufficient investigative and search and seizure powers to greatly reduce or even eliminate the prevalence of illicit tobacco in Canada. To avoid any constitutional confusion, the NTO would be specifically national in scope but multi-jurisdictional in its powers and therefore a uniquely derived capability that can cross federal/provincial/First Nations lines to arrive at practical solutions.

 

Tobacco and Competing Constituencies

When it comes to a serious attempt to address the problems associated with the illicit tobacco trade in Canada, the solution needs to focus on four areas that need fixing. All four need to be dealt with rationally and objectively and potentially all by a properly selected and resourced NTO.

  • Law Enforcement

 

To date in Canada the RCMP has been afforded the mandate and financial resources to combat contraband tobacco. Unfortunately, the Mounties have been sorely inadequate to the task.  Despite RCMP press releases that take credit for illicit tobacco busts, two realities remain.  First, most of the Mounties believe that stopping the flow of contraband tobacco is an insult to their mandate as Canada’s federal police force.   Instead of trying to convince the RCMP that this is important work for them to pursue, it would be better to shift law enforcement to local and provincial police forces and provide them with the manpower and financial resources they need to investigate and pursue offenders.

Besides pursuing organized crime groups and chasing terrorism-related financial networks, there are many other, less sexy law enforcement activities that need to be attended to in order to fully address the contraband problem. For one example, enforcing the regulations that control the production and distribution of tobacco are provincial matters but require the monitoring and investigative expertise that comes with experienced and trained law enforcement personnel.

A NTO should be given the mandate to define the roles and resources of local and provincial police forces to support the enforcement of tobacco growing and distribution legislation and regulations at both the provincial and federal levels. Moreover, should the provisions of Bill C-10 (or something like it) come into effect, sworn peace officers from local and provincial forces will need to be coordinated in training and procedure.

 

  • First Nations – Rights and Fairness

A First Nations Chief stated that Bill C-10 effectively allows the Canadian Government to enter the 6 Nations of the Grand River or Tyendinaga, both in Ontario, with no-knock raids, flash bangs, police dogs and RCMP in riot gear if we have in our possession unstamped tobacco products.  In both the Akwesasne and Kahnawake reserves in Quebec there are no less than 50 illicit cigarette factories.  First Nations here have long served notice to both legislative authorities and law enforcement that they are most unwelcome.  Both of these reserves continue to produce high volumes of contraband tobacco that continue to be distributed across Canada.

 

  • Growers – the 69 cent solution

 

Farmers in Southern Ontario believe fervently that they have been “screwed” by the Ontario Government. This screwing took place when Premiere McGuinty reneged on a deal, as part of the Federal Government’s Tobacco Transition Program of 2008, to pay farmers sixty-nine cents for every pound of tobacco they would not grow in future.  Some of the farmers lost their farms; others found ways to circumvent the deal – take the money from the feds and continue to grow tobacco for sale to the black market.

The NTO would not permit this fiasco to develop. Fairness would have dictated a process for negotiating the buyout such that all parties would be agreeable to the outcome and all parties would respect the terms of activity or payment.  To give the deal teeth, the NTO would have the resources to monitor the results of the agreement, including payments promised and behaviour modified.

 

  • Taxation Rationalization

 

It is widely known that the infamous U.S. mobster, Al Capone, was convicted for tax evasion in order to put him away for life. Present day mobsters are involved in using contraband proceeds to engage in other serious criminal activities such as drug, gun and human trafficking and terrorism funding.

Illegal Cigarette Profits Feed Terrorism

Studies by reputable think tanks such as the US Mackinac Institute have determined that there is a sweet spot in government taxation levels that represents the most effective price deterrent to smoking and the point where tax hikes drive consumers – especially young consumers – to buy contraband cigarettes.

A NTO would have the ability to provide much wisdom and hopefully much influence in advising governments at all levels how to set tax policy and rates within the context of knowledgeable consequences. The other important aspect that would be performed by the NTO is to ensure harmonization across jurisdictions which would eliminate “spatial arbitrage” between jurisdictional lines.

 

Action Required

The concept of a National Tobacco Ombudsman requires immediate discussion and very near term implementation so that tax bases can be restored with money now flowing to the criminal elements in Canada and abroad.

Ombudsmen are about protecting the rights of the public. A NTO with criminal investigative powers led by a credible Ombudsman  would protect the legitimate interests of the First Nations communities, provide law enforcement with the tools to rid our communities of organized crime groups, provide guidelines for the orderly growing of tobacco on or off reserves, and stop the lust for tax grabs at the expense of public safety.  This Ombudsman would be answerable to Parliament and would not be buried in the bureaucracy with hierarchical structures that have been established to protect and avoid issues of significant importance.  Contraband tobacco in Canada continues to be a multi-billion dollar rip off that fuels organized crime and is a significant threat to national security as the illicit trade moves with fluidity across national and international borders.

The establishment of the NTO requires unwavering leadership, transparency and accountability at all levels of government, within commercial activity involving tobacco, and within First Nations’ communities. For the Silo, Edward R. Myers

SupplementalTobacco.org home to tobacco news and information

In England, convenience store owners (called Publicans) are charged and serve jail time for selling illegal cigarettes and tobacco

Contraband Tobacco Of Southern Ontario

Letters to the Silo

Dear Silo, There is a contraband tobacco economy that has sprouted over the past two decades that rivals the volumes that the “Big Tobacco” companies produce for the legitimate market.  That black market economy has spawned much criminal activity, false reporting and tax dodging to the point now where the majority of tobacco farmers are complicit in the black market and the marketing board that was set up to regulate the legitimate licensing of tobacco growers has shown itself to be nothing more than a cartel to keep tobacco money in the hands of a self-selected few.

The Federal Government has taken a pass on trying to deal with contraband tobacco except for offering truly stupid tobacco product tax increases that do nothing but drive smokers to the black market.  We will hold judgment on the announcement that $90 million will be spent on the contraband tobacco file through the RCMP.  To date, the RCMP have not been able to make an impact on the growth of the cigarette black market in Canada.  What is certain at this point, however, is that the extra $4 levy on a carton of smokes will drive many current smokers to buy cigarettes that are unburdened by provincial or federal taxes. That will also spur on the commitment of biker gangs and other mobsters to supply the product.  Why buy a pack of cigarettes at a gas station for $14 or $15 when you can get 10 packs for the same price under the table?

The TTP Program – A Transition to Chaos

The Canadian Government has much to answer for in the creation of the tobacco diversion schemes in the first place and recent budgetary moves just reinforce the culpability.  In 2008 the Federal Government decided that it should spearhead a plan that would enable farmers to leave the tobacco business and migrate their businesses to other, less controversial lines – the Tobacco Transition Program (TTP).  As it turns out, it was this TTP idea itself that created a bunch of cheaters out of a bunch of honest farmers.

On August 1, 2008 a press release issued by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announced that, “The Government of Canada is providing more than $300 million to Ontario’s flue-cured tobacco producers, including $286 million for a Tobacco Transition Program to help them exit the tobacco industry, and $15 million for community development initiatives.”  An average of $272,000 was paid to each participating farmer.  By 2015, 133 recipients of over $30 million dollars in TTP money continued to be involved in tobacco growing.

The Ontario Government has been totally inept at dealing with the problem of contraband in the province.  In 2012, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) took over responsibility for licensing tobacco growers so as to control the production, distribution, sale and purchase of raw leaf tobacco to help ensure the supply of tobacco stays in the legal market and serves the interests of all tobacco farmers equally.  The idea at the time was to take the quota system and self-regulating elements out of the cartel environment and put tobacco sourcing regulation and control in the hands of the government to ensure fairness and transparency – and effective tax collection, one would assume.

We learned that just days after this transfer took effect the Ministry of Finance issued a news release announcing a temporary grace period that would permit growers the time to learn about their obligations and apply for the appropriate registration certificates for the upcoming growing season. That hiatus has now been extended until sometime in 2015 and some think it will be a couple of years after that before the MoF gets its act together.

While the MoF diddles, anarchy reigns.  Farmers are under-reporting their yields and selling the overages to the black market for a 400% mark-up from their contracts with the legitimate manufacturers.  They claim storm damage but actually siphon off vast amounts of tobacco to sell to the underworld.  Sometimes they call the missing tonnage, “stolen”.

Last year, Frontline Security magazine published a series of articles on the contraband tobacco industry.  Based on the reporting in that magazine about the involvement of Ontario farmers, FrontLine received a number of calls from farmers who were not involved in the skimming of tobacco yields to contraband but they expressed worry that if their neighbours were making big money selling tobacco at $8 to $10 per pound versus $2 to contracted legitimate manufacturers, why should they miss out?

With each passing season, the moral compass of the Canadian tobacco farmer gets tested and increasingly farmers are succumbing to the pressures of a big payout.    The trend is very disturbing.  In 2010, it was estimated by FrontLine that more than 60% of 241 farmers were diverting portions of their harvest to unlicensed buyers where the tobacco was heading for illicit markets.  Today, it is estimated that 90% of farmers are now involved in siphoning leaf to the black market producers and most of those are producing thousands of pounds for crime based enterprises.

The impact of this moral degeneracy has ripples that go far beyond the rolling hills of tobacco country in Ontario.  This past spring, we saw a massive bust in the Montreal area that netted 28 arrests and seizures of 40,000 kilograms of tobacco that were diverted from farms all over North America, including in the Tillsonburg area.  A key outcome of that bust was the knowledge that the Italian Mafia have become involved which brings the entire contraband tobacco controversy into a new light and brings the Ontario Tobacco farmers to a new low in conspiring with organized crime.

As alluded to earlier, the farmers aren’t the only ones who have lost their moral compass.  In an institutional way, so has the Ontario Ministry of Finance.  When the Ministry took over from the chaos in regulation created by the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers’ Marketing Board, expectations were that meaningful change was on its way.  However, as the Ministry continues to kick it’s responsibility for actual enforcement down the road, it has created a loophole that will inspire many more farmers to engage in producing tobacco that will be diverted to the black market.

Edward R. Myers– freelance journalist and Editor of FrontLine Security magazine.