Drug Cartel Activity ‘Very Prevalent’ in Canada, Says Trudeau’s Former Security Adviser

Jody Thomas, the prime minister’s former national security and intelligence adviser, appears as a witness at the Foreign Interference Commission in Ottawa on Oct. 9, 2024. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

The prime minister’s former top security adviser says drug cartel activity in Canada has increased and must be addressed before it goes out of hand.

“I would say that 10, 15, 20 years ago, we would not have used the word ‘cartel’ with regard to activity in Canada, but it’s very prevalent now,” Jody Thomas told Mercedes Stephenson of Global News in an interview that aired Feb. 23.

Thomas served as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security and intelligence adviser (NSIA) from January 2022 to January 2024. She was previously deputy minister of national defence.

“It’s becoming a problem, and we have an opportunity here to get a grip on it before it becomes a national crisis,” she said, when asked by Stephenson to comment on Ottawa’s recent decision to list five Mexican drug cartels and two street gangs as terrorist entities.

The federal government made the new terrorist group designation on Feb. 20, with groups including the Sinaloa Cartel and the street gang Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13.

Thomas, who in her role has seen intelligence on a range of topics produced by domestic and foreign agencies, said in recent years there’s been an increase in organized crime and gang violence being fuelled by drug money.

“We are being affected in a way we’ve not previously seen. The problems are moving north. The gun problem is moving north. The fentanyl problem exists here,” she said.

Ottawa’s new terrorist entity designations came shortly after Washington made a similar move on the same day, listing the same groups as Canada and an additional Mexican cartel.

Trudeau had announced the decision to list cartels as terrorist entities on Feb. 3, the day U.S. President Donald Trump had initially said he was going forward with 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico over border security and drug trafficking concerns.

Trump later that day put a 30-day pause on the tariffs to assess the countries’ response to the issues. Trudeau had also announced on Feb. 3 that a “fentanyl czar” would be appointed to coordinate Canada’s counter-fentanyl efforts. Former deputy NSIA and deputy RCMP commissioner Kevin Brosseau was named to the role on Feb. 11.

‘Enormously Helpful’

Thomas said she believes the listing of organized crime groups as terrorist entities will be “enormously helpful” for the RCMP as the national police force seeks to crack down on illegal activities. She said it will help facilitate cooperation with the United States and Mexico and make financial tools available like those used by Canada’s financial intelligence agency.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) receives reports from financial institutions on a number of indicators, such as large cash transactions or activities potentially linked to money laundering.

“FINTRAC was created to track terrorist financing, to work with banks, and the RCMP will be able to use that information and the power and the capability of FINTRAC in order to assist in their investigations,” Thomas said, saying this step will be “enormously important” for the RCMP and will “reap huge benefit.”

The terrorist listing makes it illegal for anyone to conduct certain activities on behalf of the cartels, including recruitment or financing. Any Canada-based groups that cooperate with the cartels could also be charged for terrorism offences.

“The listing gives law enforcement additional powers to track, trace, find the financing, disrupt it, interrupt it,” Public Safety Minister David McGuinty said when announcing the new listings on Feb. 20.

“We know that by interrupting the money, we’re going to have a profound influence on the activities of the groups.”

In addition to drug smuggling, Canadian criminal organizations linked to cartels are increasingly involved in money laundering and human smuggling, according to the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada’s 2024 public report on organized crime.

Along with intelligence on cartels operating in Canada, the RCMP has intelligence indicating that Canadians have moved to Mexico and South America to facilitate the shipment of certain commodities to Canada, said RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme during the terrorist listing announcement on Feb. 20.