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THE TERROR RAIDS: POLITICAL FALLOUT

Auto thefts help finance terrorism, Day says
Profits invested in subversive activities, crime, minister tells security officials
JEFF SALLOT

OTTAWA -- Terrorists are getting into the car-theft business to finance their activities because the profits are so high, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day says.

A stolen vehicle, such as a top-of-the-line North American SUV, can produce as much as $95,000 when sold overseas, Mr. Day said yesterday.

"We know the profits are invested in other illegal enterprises, not just organized crime, but including terrorist activities," he told a meeting of Canadian, U.S. and Mexican law-enforcement officials and insurance-industry representatives focusing on auto theft, organized crime and terrorism.

Mr. Day did not refer to the recent security operation in Southern Ontario that resulted in 17 arrests. Nor did he cite an example of car-theft rings linked to terrorist activities in this country.

To date, the RCMP know of no terrorist financing or money laundering involving vehicle theft in Canada, Sgt. Martin Blais, a Mountie spokesman, said later.

However, there is a link between Middle East terrorism and auto-theft rings in the United States, many experts say.

Greg Terp, the head of the auto-theft squad for the Miami-Dade police in Florida and the chairman of the Ottawa meetings, said Middle East car bombers like North American vehicles because they are big enough to conceal large quantities of explosives.

The remains of stolen North American cars are also hard to trace to terrorists, he said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation began looking at links between car thefts and terrorists last year after learning that some vehicles used in bombings in Iraq were stolen in the United States.

Coalition forces in Iraq also found a bomb-making factory in Fallujah, where an SUV registered in Texas was being fitted with explosives.

Mr. Day noted that just last month, Ontario police arrested five men in a plot to send 70 stolen vehicles by container shipment to Nigeria.

About 170,000 vehicles are stolen in Canada every year, or about 19 an hour, he said.

Mr. Day, who is the federal minister responsible for prisons, border security, the RCMP and CSIS, said foreign experts attending the Ottawa meeting may have noted a new and tougher attitude toward crime in Canada since the Conservatives came to office in February.

"Our commitment to getting tough on crime and strengthening security at our border is balanced with prevention activities that will assist our ability to combat auto theft," he said, citing budget increases to hire more Mounties and a commitment to beef up policing at ports.

He said earlier this week that the next front in Canada's war on terrorism will involve sending more spies abroad.

Mr. Day told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday that the government is determined to increase its ability to collect intelligence abroad.

Whether this means creating a new espionage service along the lines of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency or expanding the mandate of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service has yet to be determined, he said, indicating that a decision could come soon.

Mr. Day noted that the government has already promised millions of additional dollars for public safety and security programs. He said cost might well be a factor in the decision about what to do with CSIS's mandate -- some advisers have suggested that start-up costs for a new service would be exorbitant.

Canada gets much of its foreign intelligence from allies such as the United States and Britain. CSIS posts officers abroad to act as liaisons with friendly governments and provide services such as intelligence-gathering for Canadian troops in Afghanistan, but their capacity is limited, CSIS director Jim Judd told the committee.

Mr. Judd said the service has only limited dealings with governments with poor human-rights records.

Federal security officials have said the government needs to spread its intelligence-gathering net because of the global influence of extremist groups such as al-Qaeda and the ease with which they can plan operations in one country before attacking another.

Mr. Day reminded the committee that the government plans a major increase in spending by federal public-security agencies. The CSIS budget will increase 18 per cent this year, and the Mounties will be getting 11 per cent more.

But even with this increase, the number of CSIS officers will remain below the levels of the Cold War, when the agency's primary concern was detecting Soviet-bloc spies. The agency had 2,750 employees 15 years ago, dropping to about 2,000 just before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

CSIS now has about 2,450 employees and has recently launched a recruiting drive.

RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli told the committee his next big priority will be to put the heat on organized crime, particularly in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.
JUST ANOTHER REASON TO SECURE OUR BORDERS!