At least 200 cartel members roaming free in Quebec Several entered with fake Mexican passports thanks to the easing of border controls. Philipos Kollaros, shot in November 2018 at Cafe Cubano, rue Beaubien in Montreal, was considered by the police as a Quebec client of the Sinaloa cartel. He imported drugs from Mexico.
More than 200 importers, facilitators and hitmen linked to powerful drug cartels roam freely in Quebec. Several have entered with fake Mexican passports since the relaxation of the rules at the border decreed by the Trudeau government, in 2016, reveals our Investigative Office in a big report broadcast on Club illico. Romualdo Lopez-Herrera landed at Toronto's Pearson Airport in April 2018. The 41-year-old man, known in Mexico as a dangerous member of the drug cartels, managed to enter the country without problems.
Even though he is suspected of being a sicario , that is to say a hitman, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Quebec police force have lost their track.
According to our information, the case of Lopez-Herrera is not unique. Several knowledgeable sources have confirmed that 400 criminals have recently entered Canada to traffic cartel drugs. Half would have chosen Quebec as a host country.
"It's very serious that there are people who infiltrate our home, in Quebec City, in Montreal or in Toronto, and that we are not able to find them. Do you think the population can accept that? Asks the Conservative MP for Charlesbourg-Haute-Saint-Charles, Pierre Paul-Hus.
No visas
According to figures confirmed by the CBSA, the lifting of the requirement for Mexican travelers to present a Canadian border visa on December 1, 2016 would have had a significant impact on the increase in the number of drug traffickers who have successfully entered Canada's border. country.
The CBSA states that seizures of drugs from Mexico had already jumped 80% one year after the entry into force of the decision, and the 500% territorial prohibitions.
Canadian customs had predicted that this Trudeau government policy would have devastating consequences.
"The lifting of the bond will facilitate travel to Canada to reinforce cartel chains or establish new cartel chains," states a progress report from the Border Services Agency consulted through a request for access to the 'information.
Not the only ones
The members of the Mexican cartels are far from the only ones to benefit from this novelty. Among these people linked to unheard-of violence are also suspects from Peru and Colombia, among others.
Most of them obtained fake Mexican passports, a document that is easy to counterfeit given the corruption that is eating away at the various levels of government in this country.
"After this decision by the Liberal government, there has been a resurgence of fake Mexican passports. One can buy one for about $ 1,000, "says Jean-Pierre Fortin, president of the national union of customs and immigration.
The office of Canada's Minister of Public Safety, Ralph Goodale, sent us back to the CBSA, which e-mailed it to take its responsibilities very seriously when it comes to border protection and national security.
"In order not to compromise its operational efforts, the CBSA can only talk about its role," it said. THE POLICE LOST THEIR TRACK 400 people who entered Canada and are suspected of being linked to the Mexican drug cartels are now untraceable. Some are actively sought by the police.
â–º Carlos Joel Borrego Mendoza
Originally from Peru, he is suspected of working for the Peruvian cartel. He has a criminal record in Brazil for serious crimes. He came here with a fake Mexican passport. He can not be found.
â–º Fredi Gil Rodriguez
Colombian, he is suspected of working with Mexican cartels as a hitman. He was extradited to the United States in the early 2000s and sentenced for drug trafficking and returned to Colombia. He finally managed to enter Canada last year with a fake Mexican passport. He can not be found.
LINKS TO THE MURDER AT THE SHERATON? The murder of Mafia Salvatore Scoppa, shot in front of family and friends at the Sheraton Hotel in Laval on May 4, could hide an unpaid debt to the Peruvian cartels. A transaction of nearly 100 kg of drugs that would have gone wrong in Peru in 2016, may have incited drug traffickers to put the Mafioso's head at a price.
At that time, our Investigation Office had also revealed that Scoppa had returned from this trip injured on the arm and carrying several bruises.
Murder contract
One of the theories currently circulating in police circles suggests that the Sicilian clan, with whom Sal Scoppa was cold, could have taken on the murder contract of the Peruvians to shoot him down.
"This theory would have the advantage for the Sicilians to settle their clan war with Scoppa while solving the problem of the cartels of Peru," said a police source who requested anonymity.
The public execution of Salvatore Scoppa in front of hundreds of people was enough for the Laval police to openly declare war on organized crime.
