The largest source of revenue for organized crime doesn’t come from counterfeit cigarettes or illicit drugs.
It comes from the illicit trade in counterfeit products for everything and anything – toothbrushes, auto parts, electrical goods, circuit breakers.
Even Louis Vuitton handbags.
North Okanagan Shuswap Crime Stoppers Society (NOCSS) members learned this by attending the provincial Crime Stoppers conference held recently in Kelowna.
“The trade of counterfeit products is the largest source of revenue for organized crime, bringing in between $1.4 to $1.7 million per year,” said Mike Remington, past president of NOCSS. “One seizure of T-shirts was worth $2 million. As the presentation noted, buying cheap is not always the best practice.”
The illicit drugs and counterfeit smokes trade continues to attract organized crime.
Cigarettes from criminal sources loses income to the government and trade for corner stores, and are not made to the same quality as the real product.
“Crime Stoppers is active in securing information from the public,” said Remington.
It was a special gathering in Kelowna.
Crime Stoppers is celebrating 50 years of success of provincial and national programs. The conference drew attendees from across Canada.
It was a Canadian working in New Mexico in 1976 who came up with the idea of offering rewards for information on criminal activity leading to an arrest.
The one constant over 50 years has been that the informant remains anonymous.
The first case was advertised on television and in the press, and was solved shortly after airing, as were nine other unsolved crimes when they were splashed on the TV.
“Crime Stoppers, a worldwide organization, came into being,” said Remington.
Members of the public who wish to report possible illegal activity can do so by telephone (1-800-222-8477) or online or by your Smartphone (iPhone or Android) with the understanding that they are completely anonymous.
“The questions asked of the tipster during their call will reveal any possibility they could be known to the criminal, and if so, the tip is discarded,” said Remington. “A complete and detailed analysis of the information being provided is done to ensure the tipster will remain anonymous.”
Any link between the information and the informant, added Remington, and the police will not proceed with investigating the tip.
Since its inception, B.C. Crime Stoppers has received 10,670 tips leading to 124 arrests, $4 million in property and drugs recovered, and $6,225 paid out in awards for tips.
Crime Stoppers groups in the province have been prominent in seeking information on extortion violence with ads in English and Punjabi. Other programs have centred on subjects such as gangs, bullying, sextortion, missing people, and those who fall under the “most wanted” topic.
Another presentation in Kelowna focused on women and gangs.
Young women – even those from loving, stable homes – become part of the gang scene with disastrous consequences from murder to imprisonment.
“One such person gave an emotional account of her experience leading to imprisonment in the U.S.A., and further incarceration in an immigration detention centre,” said Remington. “She has since turned her life around with help from Her Time Canada (anti-gang program developed in Vancouver), and now provides mentoring for girls at risk.”
SHRED-A-THON
You have the chance to help out the North Okanagan Shuswap Crime Stoppers Society.
The organization will hold a community Shred-A-Thon Saturday, May 9, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Real Canadian Wholesale Club parking lot.
Interior Shredding is providing its mobile shredding truck to safely destroy personal and or financial paper documents which helps keep your personal identity safe.
Cost is $8 for each bankers box with all proceeds going to the Crime Stoppers’ Anonymous Tip program.