A Mexican with alleged cartel ties is seeking refugee status in Canada — a decade after he told an undercover B.C. police officer that “he was a hitman for hire.” Read More
A Mexican with alleged cartel links is seeking refugee status in Canada — a decade after he told an undercover B.C. cop he was a hitman.
A Mexican with alleged cartel links is seeking refugee status in Canada — a decade after he told an undercover B.C. cop he was a hitman.
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A Mexican with alleged cartel ties is seeking refugee status in Canada — a decade after he told an undercover B.C. police officer that “he was a hitman for hire.”
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The man, identified only as C.M. in Federal Court of Canada documents, also provided the cop with “information concerning his fees, method and disposal techniques,” Justice Julie Blackhawk noted in a ruling released Tuesday.
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The federal public safety minister asked for a judicial review of a March 7 decision by Immigration and Refugee Board member Maleeka Mohamed who said C.M. could be released from detention on conditions as his claim is processed.
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The minister said Mohamed minimized C.M.’s danger to the public “as a drug trafficker and a known associate of the terrorist entity La Familia Michoacana Cartel.”
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Blackhawk agreed in her April 1 ruling, saying parts of Mohamed’s decision to release the admitted hitman were “unreasonable, unintelligible and not justified.” She ordered the case be sent back to another IRB member for review.
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The 42-year-old claimant crossed the border into Canada in February with his minor child — a dual U.S. and Mexican citizen.
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C.M. had been deported from Canada on April 7, 2015, because of his connections to two separate B.C. criminal investigations.
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“In 2011, the respondent was found by the Vancouver Police Department to be in possession of a significant quantity of controlled substances and paraphernalia. He was arrested, but no charges were brought,” the Federal Court decision said.
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“In 2014, the VPD and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were engaged in a lengthy investigation into organized crime and drug trafficking. The respondent was present at a meeting where a controlled substance was purchased. In a recording taken by an undercover officer, the respondent stated that he was a hitman for hire.”
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Many of the documents entered in the federal case are sealed to protect the identity of the child, who is now staying with relatives in B.C.
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But one source said Thursday that no charges were ever laid in the 2014 investigation into the alleged cocaine smuggling operations of some B.C.-based La Familia cartel members because of some issues that arose during the probe.
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However, police alerted the Canada Border Services Agency about C.M.’s purported hitman confession. He was arrested on Nov. 4, 2014.
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In December 2014, Postmedia News reported on the presence in B.C. of La Familia and Sinaloa cartel members, who police said at the time were working with local criminal organizations to smuggle and sell cocaine and other drugs.