More seizures of drugs and weapons

Christopher Nardi

Saturday, 17 February, 2018 00:01

UPDATE
Saturday, 17 February, 2018 00:01

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OTTAWA | The number of seizures of drugs and illegal weapons at the canadian border by agents has soared since 2013. A trend that worries the experts at the dawn of the legalization of cannabis.

Apparently, the border agents canadians are not at the dawn of out of a job.

Between 2013 and 2017, the number of drug seizures of all kinds is increased from 9424 to 14-088 to the input ports of the country, according to data provided to the Newspaper by the Agency of Canada border services (CBSA). It is only in 2016 that we have noticed a larger quantity of seizures of illicit substances (18 442), almost double that of the previous year.

Among the drugs most foreclosures, this is the marijuana that throne at the top. It has been found more cannabis by the border officers that all the drugs combined.

Trivialization

This leap suddenly from 2016 in seizures of marijuana, including the transport by the post office has also exploded in popularity in recent years, according to data from the CBSA, not surprised in any way the criminologist Maria Mourani.

“We note that the increase in cannabis seizures occurred at the same time that the federal government has started to talk about legalization. Therefore, many people who have never done it before have started to order from abroad, saying it was already legal. We are witnessing the trivialization of the drug “, she analyzes.

According to the president of the union of the border agents in canada, Jean-Pierre Fortin, the trend is not about to reverse.

“With the growing popularity of the shipments of the drug through the mail, and the trafficking of synthetic drugs, it is certain that foreclosures will continue to skyrocket. We need more agents and more information is shared with the Americans to deal with “, lance-t-il.

For its part, the CBSA reiterated that it had no explanations for these phenomena and that it ” wouldnít comment on the trends of seized articles “.

More weapons

In addition, CBSA officers seize more and more weapons of all kinds that some people are trying to enter illegally the country. For the past five years, the number of interceptions has nearly doubled, to $ 4560 in 2017.

Among the objects violent the most commonly confiscated in 2017, there are the hits-of-fist-americans and the butterfly knives or automatic opening, all illegal in Canada.

About firearms, the customs officers seized 166 handguns, and about a hundred semi-automatic pistols or revolvers in the last year.

However, as the CBSA, the experts consulted by The Newspaper are struggling to explain why the border agents found more of these weapons at the border. According to Mrs. Mourani, it could be simply that the agents opened the right box at the right time.

“The national targeting Centre of the CBSA is working with our international partners to identify individuals and high-risk goods prior to their arrival at our borders in all modes of transportation,” said for its part a spokesman for the CBSA, Nicholas Dorion.

Objects intercepted