People

Although driven primarily by local demand, the US human trafficking market accrues profit both domestically and internationally. Foreign criminal networks dominate the market, with most victims coming from Mexico, Honduras or the US. Vulnerable groups include homeless youth, minors in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, non-citizen workers, disabled individuals, LGBTQ+ individuals, drug addicts, indigenous women and girls, and victims of domestic violence. Internet and social media platforms have largely replaced traditional sex trafficking recruitment venues.

There is a highly consolidated human smuggling market along the US–Mexico border, where various domestic and foreign criminal actors, as well as both US and Mexican officials, facilitate the smuggling of people into the US. While Mexican nationals remain the largest group of migrants smuggled into the US, many others hail from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Smuggling of migrants from countries such as Ecuador, Brazil, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Haiti and Cuba, mainly linked to declining socio-political circumstances after the COVID-19 pandemic, has also increased in recent years. Human smuggling costs have risen, and victims are increasingly susceptible to various forms of exploitation, including drug trafficking. Before the reversal of restrictive COVID-19 policies, many asylum seekers were forced to remain in unsafe areas of northern Mexico under threats of violence and extortion by local criminal groups.

Even though extortion and protection rackets are conducted by both domestic and transnational crime groups operating in the US, these criminal activities are not pervasive in the country, with only limited and sporadic instances reported in recent years.

Trade

The US arms trafficking market is large and considerable, with the country serving as both a source and destination for difficult-to-purchase firearms, including machine guns. Guns that are trafficked within and across state lines contribute significantly to domestic violence, but the scope of the market is also transnational. The US, for instance, is a major source of illicit foreign weapons and ammunition in Brazil and is responsible for a large portion of the arms seized in Mexico. Weapons sourced from the US often end up in the hands of armed gangs, drug traffickers and terrorist organizations abroad, sparking controversial debates over the links between arms proliferation, criminal violence and global terrorism. In recent years, the increasing severity of gun violence has reignited the gun control debate and further polarized partisan divides, with a record number of domestic gun-related deaths, including suicides, homicides and mass shootings.

Counterfeiting crimes cause significant financial losses to the US economy, with billions of dollars in annual damages. The increase in counterfeit imports through online platforms, and easy access to US-based consumers via international shipping companies has led to a surge in illicit products circulating within the country. The majority of intellectual property-infringing products are imported from Asia, mainly China, followed by Türkiye and Vietnam. Counterfeit luxury goods, including watches, jewellery, handbags, wallets and consumer electronics account for most of the counterfeit products seized in the US.

While the US imposes excise taxes on various goods and activities, there is little evidence of significant illicit trade of excise goods, except for cigarettes. Some states experience black- and grey-market sale of cigarettes due to excessive taxes, leading to the transportation of tobacco products between low-tax and high-tax states and various Native American tribal lands. New York has the highest rate of inbound illicit cigarette traffic, followed by California, Washington, New Mexico and Minnesota. On the other hand, New Hampshire witnessed the highest rate of outbound illicit cigarette traffic, followed by Idaho, Virginia, Wyoming and North Dakota. Cigarette smuggling is a significant national issue that presents challenges at sub-national, national and global levels.

Environment

In the US, plant poaching has increased significantly, and recent reports show that poaching of dudleya plants in California has caused severe environmental damage. Despite being at risk of extinction due to Asian demand, the CITES-protected ginseng root has not been classified as endangered by US authorities. Poaching-related clashes have resulted in fatalities, and although rare, some poachers face prison sentences. While the US is not known for widespread illicit logging, it imports wood from countries with high rates of illegal logging, including Latin American timber and Honduran mahogany.

Wildlife crime is a significant problem in the US, which serves as a source, transit and destination for the illegal trade of wildlife and wildlife-derived products. The illegal trade involves both domestic and foreign-sourced animals and products, and the lack of a comprehensive strategy to combat the trade domestically means that high-value wildlife products often end up in the hands of unsuspecting consumers. Wildlife exploitation has caused significant environmental damage, leading to the loss of indigenous species and habitats. The market for wildlife trafficking in the country continues to be a lucrative criminal enterprise worth billions of dollars annually.

The illegal market for gold in the US is primarily sourced from Latin America, including countries such as Venezuela and Colombia, and smuggled into the country through small planes, charter jets or by using fraudulent paperwork. The gold is sold to American or foreign refiners who then sell gold bars to multinational corporations. Criminal actors, both domestic and foreign, participate in the trade of other valuable metals, minerals and stones, including silver, copper, coal, emeralds and uranium from countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Guyana. Despite a ban on Venezuelan gold by Caribbean islands like Curaçao and Aruba, the trade continues through other Latin American countries with little regulation or enforcement from US law enforcement officials. Gold is classified as a commodity rather than a monetary instrument, which hinders US law enforcement officials from combatting money laundering linked to illegal gold flows.

Drugs

The heroin trade is pervasive in the US, and closely connected to fentanyl, which had led to an increase in opioid addictions and a major public health crisis. Mexican mafia-style groups have a significant influence over the market, controlling smuggling routes and collaborating with US-based criminal networks to transport heroin throughout the country. Although Mexican-sourced heroin dominates the market, heroin from Colombia and Afghanistan also enters the country via sea and air. The US heroin trade also fuels territorial violence, has been linked to an increase in children in foster care programmes, and contributes to the transmission of diseases such as Hepatitis C and HIV through shared syringes. Despite a decrease in identified heroin trafficking offenders and heroin seizures, opioid-related deaths in the US have increased in recent years.

The US has a large and consolidated cocaine trade that is dominated by Colombian criminal groups for supply, Mexican networks for transportation, and US-based gangs for retail distribution. Most cocaine smuggled into the US comes across the US–Mexico border. Although cocaine consumption has declined slightly due to the increased availability of cheaper drugs such as opioids, drug overdoses remain a common threat, especially as cocaine is increasingly mixed with fentanyl or other synthetic opioids. The increase in cocaine production and availability in recent years has made Colombian-sourced cocaine the primary driver of the US cocaine trade, followed by Peru.

The cannabis trade in the US is among the top 10 worldwide, but its legality varies across state lines, making it difficult to assess the market's criminality. While some states permit both the medical and personal use of cannabis, others only allow medical use or prohibit it entirely, resulting in a fragmented and developing legal framework that engenders uncertainty for law enforcement officials and hinders state initiatives to combat cannabis-related crime. The majority of domestically circulating cannabis is illicitly produced by US-based drug trafficking organizations and state-licensed local growers, while foreign-sourced marijuana is also trafficked into the US from Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean. However, Mexican and Caribbean-sourced marijuana is considered inferior in quality to both US and Canadian-sourced marijuana.

The US synthetic drug trade is one of the largest in the world and poses a significant threat to public health and national security. Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl dominate the market, with a major share of drug overdose deaths involving this drug. Mexican drug cartels import raw materials from Asia to produce and traffic fentanyl, along with counterfeit versions of popular drugs like Adderall and Valium. Mexican-sourced methamphetamine is also commonly consumed, but a crackdown on precursor chemicals has led to dangerous reformulation by Mexican drug cartels. The emergence of a new synthetic opioid called isotonitazene is also a concern. Despite US law enforcement efforts to combat the synthetic drug trade, dark web fentanyl transactions and traditional drug trafficking routes continue to pose challenges.

Cyber Crimes

The US is considered to be at high risk for cyber-dependent crime as compared to other countries. Among the most commonly committed cyber-dependent crimes are ransomware attacks, hacking and personal data breaches, which result in annual losses of billions of dollars. Ransomware attacks have targeted larger sums of money and impacted critical infrastructure sectors such as the defence industrial base, food and agriculture, government facilities and information technology. Russian-based ransomware gangs are the most aggressive attackers of US enterprises, and the rise in ransomware attacks can be attributed to poor corporate security measures and a thriving ransomware-as-a-service industry. Reports indicate that a significant number of affected companies have paid ransoms, but over half were able to recover their lost data. Emerging scams involving non-fungible tokens and cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin also constitute a significant threat.

Financial Crimes

Financial crimes have become an increasingly pressing issue in the US. A growing number of citizens are falling victim to fraud and collectively losing billions of dollars each year. Imposter and shopping scams are among the most common types of fraud. Business email compromise schemes and identity fraud have also seen an uptick in recent years. While states like Georgia, Maryland, Delaware, Nevada and Florida have reported the highest number of scam complaints, California has experienced the greatest financial losses from these crimes. One contributing factor to the prevalence of financial crime in the US is the differing financial regulations among states, which have allowed some states to become offshore destinations for foreign tax evasion. Delaware, Nevada, Wyoming and South Dakota are considered among the riskiest states in this regard. Tax evasion is estimated to reach over a trillion dollars in annual losses, with tax revenue accounting for a smaller percentage of GDP than at most other times in recent US history. In 2021, wealthy corporations were responsible for over half of the unpaid tax revenue in the US.

Criminal Actors

Smaller criminal networks and gangs, particularly those specializing in drug trafficking, reportedly receive the most attention from US investigators and prosecutors. There are tens of thousands of active criminal gangs across the country. Criminal networks and gangs often collaborate with foreign drug trafficking networks and employ high levels of violence to carry out their operations. Private sector actors in the US are known to be heavily involved in financial crime, including tax evasion and corrupt schemes, which are difficult to detect and are often tied to political corruption. While corruption in the US private sector is relatively low, it poses a significant risk to the economy and society as a whole, with potentially devastating consequences for public trust and confidence in key institutions.

Mafia-style groups continue to be active criminal actors in the US. A variety of mafias are still operational in the country, with an estimated several thousand associates based there. They exert territorial control over areas such as New York, southern New Jersey and Philadelphia. In addition, mafia-style groups continue to operate in Chicago and other places, sometimes forming alliances with other criminal enterprises. These groups engage in drug trafficking, money laundering and healthcare fraud targeting Medicare. Members of these groups have easy access to weapons and carry arms openly. Mafia-style groups are also linked to labour racketeering, extortion and union-related corruption schemes. Outlaw motorcycle gangs have been involved in mafia-style killings. Foreign criminal groups also have a significant influence on various criminal activities in the US, including drug and human trafficking, cybercrime and election interference. Central American criminal organizations dominate the drug trafficking market, but Mexican, Dominican and Colombian-based groups also have a share. Asian criminal groups control the trafficking of cannabis, MDMA and precursor chemicals. In addition to drugs and human trafficking, foreign actors also play a significant role in cybercrime.

Evidence directly linking state-embedded actors to organized criminal markets – on either domestic or transnational levels – remains elusive. In fact, corruption in the public sector, public procurement and tax administration sectors of the US economy is relatively uncommon. However, the proliferation of locally-based corruption among US officials – especially in relation to transnational criminal activity along the US–Mexico border – is an increasing concern.

Leadership and governance

Recent challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, exposed structural problems in the federal government and emphasized the differences in strength of local and state governing bodies. Along with domestic issues, the US faces external conflicts, nuclear tensions with North Korea and Iran, trade- and Taiwan-related tensions with China, and foreign influence campaigns from Russia and China. The political scene is polarized, making it difficult for any government to implement its agenda, and posing a risk to the local and global economy due to the politicization of the debt ceiling. Against this backdrop, however, the US has proven to be capable of addressing the organized crime situation in the country, with evidence indicating that the state is sufficiently robust to meet the challenge. Nevertheless, organized crime continues to be a significant problem, with ongoing challenges to governance due to deep political divisions over anti-corruption strategies. Although the current government has launched initiatives to address transparency and accountability issues, several legislative reforms remain pending.

The US is a signatory to several international treaties and conventions related to organized crime and generally complies with international anti-organized crime regulations. The current administration has increased international cooperation efforts in comparison to the previous one. It rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement and is focusing on extradition treaties, especially given the rise in cybercrime. US–Mexico relations have provided for relatively smooth extradition processes in the past, but tensions have risen due to various incidents involving drug-related charges. However, US authorities have relied heavily on Mexican support to combat irregular immigration along the US–Mexico border. Since the outbreak of the Russia–Ukraine war, the US has collaborated with NATO allies to provide both military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The US has a robust legal framework against organized crime, criminalizing various forms and outlining investigation, arrest, prosecution, adjudication and punishment procedures. The current administration has implemented several legal reforms, including repealing previous policies and laws on energy conservation, environmental protections, H1-B visas and other issues. One of the most controversial reforms has been vacating the previous policy of facilitating extrajudicial deportation of smuggled people and asylum seekers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, legislative reform regarding anti-counterfeit legislation has garnered widespread support, with one relevant piece of legislation amended to require online marketplaces to engage in preventative practices such as verifying sellers' identities and screening for counterfeits before sellers' goods appear on the platform. A lack of federal anti-gun legislation, which resulted in an increasing dependence on individual state legislation, has rendered weapons transport across state lines a relatively easy affair. Loopholes in various state-level policies, such as variations on the requirement of background checks for weapons purchases, also render state legislation easy to exploit. These shortcomings resulted in an alarming increase in mass shootings across the US.

Criminal justice and security

Recent years have seen an increasing politicization of the US judicial system, with concerns over partisan judicial appointments and campaign fundraising leading to fears of judicial bias. Both the previous and current administrations have made record-high judicial appointments. Additionally, executive and legislative officials in some states have sought influence over state-level judiciary affairs, which has narrowed judicial independence. Issues impacting the US judicial system and leading to high incarceration rates include deficiencies in the parole system, funding shortages for public defence, racial bias and the imposition of minor offence-related court fees. Despite that, there is a sufficient framework to respond to major organized crime issues. The US currently has the largest known prison population worldwide, with millions of individuals incarcerated or in pre-trial detention in federal or state prisons. The extensive use of plea bargaining and overcrowding in US prisons are also raising concerns, although efforts have reportedly been made by the Biden administration with regards to overincarceration. The use of the death penalty has declined significantly over the years.

A number of agencies working within the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security focus on organized crime at the federal level. A Department of State bureau also specifically focuses on organized crime, and the US is one of few countries in the region that has a federal agency specifically focused on guns, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Moreover, the Department of Justice - via both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force - leads US efforts to combat cybercrime. However, while state and local law enforcement agencies receive more resources, which may indicate the prioritization of fighting organized crime, issues such as unqualified leadership, poor candidate screening and weak staff training continue to be a concern. Police killings, which have racial disparities, have eroded public trust in law enforcement officials. Police brutality rates have remained consistent since George Floyd's death, and efforts to reform the US law enforcement system have been limited.

The US shares land borders with Canada and Mexico; the border with Mexico is a significant challenge for the country’s territorial integrity due to its proximity to multiple transnational criminal markets. Customs and Border Protection officials monitor hundreds of land, sea and air points of entry, but their efficacy has been called into question as criminal networks continuously circumvent US border regulations. The US is considered the most cyber-capable country worldwide in terms of both hacking and digital defence. The country's increasing reliance on technology has expanded the number of potential hacking targets, and the growing brazenness of geopolitical adversaries, including Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, makes the US highly vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Moreover, the internet of things has led to an increase in targeting of the government through an uptick in crimes such as spying on government agencies, stealing sensitive information from public and private sector entities, stealing intellectual property and destroying computer equipment.

Economic and financial environment

The global dominance of the US dollar makes it highly vulnerable to money laundering, given the sheer magnitude of global financial transactions flowing through US banking institutions. These transactions involve crimes such as fraud, drug trafficking, human smuggling, human trafficking and corruption. In recent years, large-scale reforms aimed at increasing the country’s AML capacity have been implemented. However, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which is the world's leading AML watchdog, has been underfunded and overstretched, lacking adequate capacity to effectively combat money laundering. It is estimated that approximately one quarter of all funds laundered worldwide are made through US-based financial institutions. Although most US states have robust anti-money laundering legislative frameworks, money laundering risks tend to vary by state.

While economic regulatory capacity is not lacking in the US, the political will to empower and encourage adequate oversight remains a challenge. Despite an increase in GDP per capita after the pandemic, mounting consumer prices due to the great resignation, chip scarcity and problems with the global supply chain drove an uptick in inflation throughout 2022, reaching a 40-year high. The US is the largest economy in the world, but increasing government overspending and the politicization of the debt ceiling pose serious risks to the national and global economy.

Civil society and social protection

There have been increasing efforts made to support crime victims and witnesses in recent years, and numerous victim and witness support programmes exist across the country. However, the most common ones are still operated by non-profit and faith-based organizations, followed by governmental organizations. The US federal Witness Security Program provides 24-hour protection to all witnesses, and there have been no reports of witnesses who follow programme guidelines ever being harmed or killed while under its protection. National media efforts have also increased the effectiveness of US-based victim and witness support services.

Efforts by the US government to prevent organized crime faced challenges during the previous administration, but they are recovering. The focus of the anti-drug trafficking strategy has shifted toward a preventative healthcare approach, with increased investment in addiction treatment and alternative pain medication. However, critics are calling for more extensive public awareness campaigns to prevent drug-related issues. The authorities have also sought to limit both the domestic production and foreign import of opioids through counter-narcotic assistance to source countries, legal restrictions on the medical prescription of opioids and rehabilitative approaches toward opioid consumers. In terms of cybersecurity, the US is developing federal- and state-level preventative initiatives in response to an increased number of cyber-attacks, especially ransomware.

Civil society actors provide a significant portion of available victim and witness support services in the US. While legislation grants widespread freedoms to NGOs pursuing their respective civic or political agendas, labour unions lack similar freedoms and have significantly declined in strength. Republican-led states have also passed problematic electoral laws that have rendered voting more difficult and raised risks of greater partisan interference in election management, vote counting and certification. The country boasts a robust tradition of press and media freedom. However, several chronic issues remain, despite some advances by the current administration. In particular, online harassment of journalists, particularly women and minorities, threatens their safety and quality of life. Public distrust in the media reached unprecedented levels due to issues such as media polarization, fuelling of dangerous conspiracy theories, the disappearance of local news outlets and the weakening of journalism by social media and other digital platforms. The residual impact of widespread polarization, misinformation and the incitement of violence has led to lingering erosion of societal cohesion and politics, as well as violent uprisings.

People

Human trafficking in Canada continues to grow, albeit moderately, with the country's sex trafficking market remaining active. The majority of cases involving Canada consists of internal trafficking. Indigenous women and girls are particularly vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation, but their cases often go uninvestigated, and disappearances are attributed to this crime. While recent data indicates that this group is not overrepresented among all human trafficking victims and survivors in the country, they may be targeted with specific forms of gender and sex-based violence. There has also been an increase in overall online victimization of youth. Transnational human trafficking, on the other hand, comes primarily in the form of forced labour. Foreign workers, primarily women of Filipino origin in the caregiving and agricultural sectors, are at high risk of exploitation and abuse due to language barriers, isolated worksites, and limited access to protections.

Human smuggling in Canada is primarily limited to facilitating irregular migration, with the country serving as a transit point for workers and asylum seekers attempting to reach the US. However, a recent surge in asylum applications and a rise in deaths and rescues along the Canadian border suggest that more people are attempting to reach Canada as their final destination country rather than merely using it as a transit point. Many travel on their own with visas obtained fraudulently, often from Asia, while others rely on smugglers. Some indigenous/Native American communities are reportedly involved in smuggling people from the US into Canada using reservation land. Smugglers in Canada primarily operate along the southeastern border, either as independent and opportunistic smugglers or through more organized smuggling networks. Regarding extortion and protection racketeering, these criminal practices continue to be carried out by mafia-style groups in the country, albeit to a limited extent.

Trade

In recent years, Canada has witnessed an increase in national and transnational arms trafficking and firearm-related homicides, despite its relatively small illegal arms market. Most illegal arms in Canada are smuggled in from the US, with handguns being the most commonly seized. Organized crime groups are significant players in the smuggling and sale of firearms, often through illegal means. While measures have been taken to address the issue, the low probability of interdiction at the US-Canada border and the high profit margins of illegal guns in Canada compared to the US make it difficult to eliminate this crime. Additionally, there have been reports of the use of 3D printers to produce parts and components of guns to avoid regulations and law enforcement.

In recent years, customs authorities in Canada have detained a growing number of shipments and containers of counterfeit merchandise intended for global distribution. Although the market in the country remains fairly moderate in size, Canada has been flagged as a country of concern for counterfeits due to its failure to provide adequate protection or enforcement of intellectual property rights, as well as its high levels of online piracy. Sophisticated Chinese criminal networks based in Toronto and Asia are among the major global players in the counterfeiting industry. Similarly, also the illicit trade of excise goods, particularly tobacco, poses a challenge in Canada. The issue is moderately widespread, with weak policy responses to counter it. Most illicit tobacco trade occurs in central Canada, with certain Indigenous communities reported to be involved in this activity. The problem is most prominent in Ontario and Quebec, where estimates of the size of the illicit tobacco market vary widely. Tobacco smuggling and related excise offences are often intertwined with unregulated cigarette-manufacturing plants and retail outlets established on First Nations territories.

Environment

There is currently no indication of a substantial illicit logging and timber trade market in Canada. Canadian officials have been effective in regulating the timber supply chain and monitoring the country's ports of entry and exit. Furthermore, there is a strong preference for legal timber in Canada, which is reflected in legislation, policies, and consumer choices. However, there have been reports of an illicit market in the US for orchids originating from Canada. With regard to the wildlife trafficking, the country plays a role as source, transit, and destination. Species such as polar bears, turtles, narwhals, and walrus tusks are commonly trafficked. Although polar bear trading and narwhal hunting among Inuit populations are legal in Canada, these activities put these species at risk. Bear gallbladders are trafficked out of Canada to some Asian countries where local communities believe in their healing powers. It is worth noting that Canada allows for the domestic trade of ivory obtained from elephants killed prior to 1990, which gives opportunities for criminals to disguise new ivory into the legal market.

The extractive industries, including the diamond market in Canada, have maintained their conflict-free reputation, with no marked changes in recent years. Artisanal mining is also reportedly free of criminal activities. However, Canadian multinational companies have been linked to environmental and human rights violations globally. A lack of accountability within the country has facilitated these abuses for decades. There are also reports of conflict-ridden gold from Venezuela being trafficked to neighbouring countries and then exported to gold refiners in Canada through false paperwork.

Drugs

Although domestic demand of heroin is limited in the country (prescription drugs constitute the main opioid abuse), a high number of heroin-related emergency-room visits is still reported. While most of the opioid supply in the Americas comes from Mexico, Colombia, and Guatemala, the Canadian market continues to source most of its heroin from the Golden Crescent in South-West Asia. Asian criminal networks, mainly Chinese, are the largest importers and traffickers of heroin on Canada's western coast. In contrast, the Canadian cocaine market is relatively small, with low prices and limited demand, but recent seizures indicate potential growth. Most cocaine in Canada is imported from Latin American countries through Caribbean and US transit points, with Mexican cartels becoming more involved in smuggling and trafficking. The market is controlled by various organized criminal groups, including motorcycle gangs. Canada is also identified as a transit country for cocaine destined for other countries such as Australia, Japan, and New Zealand.

Canada legalized the use of recreational and medical marijuana, which led to the government running cannabis suppliers, and private companies joining the business. However, as the domestic demand was underestimated, it led to the persistence of illegal production and sale of cannabis. Reports suggest that legal cannabis is more expensive and lower in quality than illicit cannabis, giving users more incentives to buy from the black market. Nevertheless, the illicit cannabis trade in Canada has minimal links with organized crime.

The country faces the pervasive issue of illicit synthetic drug production and trafficking, with synthetic opioids and methamphetamine being the main drugs of focus. The production of these drugs, particularly in the greater Vancouver area, involves Asian criminal networks and outlawed motorcycle gangs. It is believed that production of street opioids is moving intentionally toward Carfentanil and away from Fentanyl. While Canada remains a source country for ecstasy and crystal meth, the country has implemented measures to counter the manufacturing and trafficking of synthetic opioids, including requiring registration for the import of designated devices capable of producing controlled substances.

Cyber Crimes

Cybercrime is on the rise in Canada, and many incidents go unreported. In recent years, the country has suffered a high number of ransomware attacks and payouts, costing millions of dollars per data breach. Furthermore, cybercriminals are increasingly using Canadian internet service providers to host malicious sites and carry out cyberattacks. In addition to public authorities such as law enforcement agencies, small businesses in Canada have also experienced a high number of cyber incidents. Moreover, Canada faces significant strategic cyber threats from state-sponsored cyber programmes in countries such as China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Cryptocurrencies are also becoming more popular among cybercriminals as they help conceal identities and avoid tracking by law enforcement agencies. Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) business models have also increased, with developers selling or leasing ransomware to other cybercriminals.

Financial Crimes

Financial crimes in Canada are a growing concern, with losses attributed to scams and fraud reaching hundreds of millions of Canadian dollars annually. The most frequently reported types of fraud and scams include phishing, merchandise scams, service scams, and vendor fraud. Among these, spear-fishing is especially prevalent and poses a formidable threat to businesses and organizations. Identity fraud and tax noncompliance are also serious issues. The problem is exacerbated by Canada's weak corporate transparency regulations, which make it easy to register shell companies and obscure the true identity of individuals involved in financial crimes. As a result, these criminal activities are difficult to detect and prosecute.

Criminal Actors

Outlaw motorcycle gangs are the most prevalent mafia-style groups in Canada, with a strong presence in Ontario and Quebec. These groups engage in a range of criminal activities, including extortion, drug trafficking, smuggling of weapons and cigarettes, and loan sharking. Nova Scotia is of particular interest to these gangs due to its significant port of entry for smuggled illegal drugs, and different groups have had clashes in the province. Loose-knit criminal networks spanning the country are also involved in various profitable criminal activities, including drug trafficking, contraband cigarettes, gambling, counterfeiting, fraud, smuggling, and human trafficking. Professional money laundering networks are particularly active in Canada and are relied on by most mafia-style groups to launder the proceeds of their crimes.

Foreign criminal actors, particularly Italian and Asian mafias, continue to have a big presence in Canada. Members of these gangs have strong relations with the business community in Quebec and control economic activities such as fraudulent transfer of values and usury. They are also involved in drug distribution and trafficking, money laundering, and loan sharking and have a history of violence and murder. Asian mafias active in the country are also known to import Fentanyl and precursors from China. Regarding private sector actors, the accommodations and food services, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, construction, and other services sectors have the highest number of businesses linked to organized crime in Canada. Money service businesses, in particular, facilitate international money laundering operations and are often integral parts of broader criminal groups or internationally networked criminal entities. The cash-based nature of most transactions in this industry makes it attractive to criminals, particularly those associated with mafia-style groups. It is worth noting that there is currently no evidence of widespread corruption and infiltration of organized crime into politics or state institutions in Canada. However, cases of bribery of government officials, especially at the local level, as well as accusations of diverting public funds, are increasingly reported in the country.

Leadership and governance

Canada has a well-established governance and institutional system, with a strong stance against crime, including a national strategy, law enforcement units, justice frameworks, and social services. However, there is no comprehensive national strategy in place to address organized crime, and funding shortages for enforcement pose a challenge, particularly in aboriginal territories and among marginalized youth. Although Canada is considered to be one of the least corrupt countries in the world, deficiencies in legal frameworks for accessing information have been identified, and criticism has emerged regarding the lack of transparency in the beneficial ownership of corporations and trusts. This has made Canada a desirable country for incorporating shell companies that can facilitate illicit activities.

Canada is actively participating in international efforts to combat organized crime, including signing international agreements and adapting its laws to meet international standards. It has bilateral partnerships with the US and China to address issues such as drug smuggling and trafficking. Canada has the legal authority to obtain court orders on behalf of countries that are parties to mutual legal assistance agreements, and it has laws to freeze assets to restrain the property of foreign state leaders and officials. However, human rights experts have called for an overhaul of national laws related to extradition to ensure fairness and constitutional protections. Canada also has a robust legislative framework to combat organized crime through policy development and coordination. However, insufficient funding and resources pose a significant challenge in fully implementing efforts to combat the growing scope of organized crime in Canada.

Criminal justice and security

There have been no recent changes to Canada’s judicial system and detention policies in recent years. Although there are no specialized courts exclusively dedicated to organized crime, the Canadian judiciary appears to be effective, and is considered largely free from corruption. However, the system appears to suffer from a shortage of prosecutorial and judicial resources. There have also been reports of abuse of power by prison guards, and concerns have been raised about the improper use of solitary confinement. Allegations of increasing alliances and violent competition between different gangs in prisons present a growing security challenge for penitentiaries and increasing the likelihood of recidivism. The country has several mechanisms in place to integrate and foster cooperation and information sharing among different law enforcement agencies, which make an extensive use of multi-agency and multi-disciplinary joint forces operations. However, despite the existence of relevant structures and cooperation between law enforcement units, continuing funding shortages for law enforcement at federal and provincial levels result in a failure to address the growing scope and complexity of organized crime. Specifically, the lack of resources for financial crime enforcement has been criticized and partially blamed for the widespread problem of money laundering in Canada, particularly in British Columbia.

Canada has the longest international border in the world with the US. Although cross-border trafficking occurs, the scale of these flows is relatively limited, but only a small percentage of all drugs smuggled into the country are detected and interdicted. In fact, border control agencies have insufficient resources to adequately monitor all of Canada's borders and territories. Following the implementation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Canadian customs have been empowered to detain in-transit commercial shipments of suspected counterfeit goods, and officials have seen a significant increase in detentions. However, the Canada Border Services Agency has warned that smugglers and criminal groups may attempt to corrupt border officials.

Economic and financial environment

Canada is considered a medium-risk country for money laundering due to ineffective beneficial ownership transparency systems. Not all professions are covered by anti-money laundering provisions, and professionals such as real estate agents and lawyers are not required to identify beneficial owners during due diligence. Canada lacks a central register for beneficial ownership information, and federal and provincial governments have been accused of weak leadership in financial crime enforcement. This is particularly true in British Columbia, where evidence of widespread money laundering through casinos, real estate, and banks has been found. The police's proceeds of crime enforcement programme have been considerably under-resourced for years, and the Financial Intelligence Unit has been criticized for creating too many obstacles to timely information sharing for law enforcement purposes.

In contrast, Canada has effective measures for governing natural resources, promoting ease of doing business and combating corruption. Criminal and civil legal frameworks are in place to help legitimate businesses operate free from criminal activities. While no sectors in Canada are significantly controlled by organized crime, recent cases indicate that criminal groups have influence in the tow truck industry in Toronto and Montreal. Additionally, companies in the accommodation and entertainment industries have been used to launder money and serve as fronts for organized crime.

Civil society and social protection

Canada has a comprehensive framework in place to provide support to victims of modern slavery, and the country has increased its efforts to protect victims of human trafficking more broadly. While provinces and territories bear primary responsibility for delivering victim services, the federal government has established various guidelines and resources to help front-line officials proactively identify cases of human trafficking. However, service providers have noted that they mainly serve Canadian female victims, and more needs to be done to support male and foreign victims. Victims can typically access basic services such as emergency shelter, food, medical services, psychological support, safety planning, and legal support. The police administer the federal Witness Protection Program to support witnesses, which has recently made marked improvements to its standards and focus on the needs of victims.

Regarding prevention, the Canadian government has shown its commitment to combating human trafficking through the implementation of a five-year national awareness programme and the commissioning of an independent organization to assess the risk of human trafficking in the government's supply chain. Additionally, the government has boosted its efforts to prevent sexual exploitation within the delivery of foreign assistance. However, the country lacks a coherent national strategy to prevent organized crime, and its resources are mainly focused on enforcement. Some public education campaigns have been implemented, and civil remedies have been put in place in some provinces to remove suspected gang members from licensed establishments.

While Canada has also been promoting media freedom domestically and internationally through initiatives such as hosting events, proposing new resolutions, and donating to international organizations focused on freedom of speech it still faces challenges in terms of press coverage involving indigenous people and land disputes. While the government supports civil society organizations, these organizations have a minor role in fighting organized crime in Canada, with some advocacy groups focused on specific areas such as human trafficking and smuggling. Public-private partnerships exist and are encouraged at the federal level to combat crime, with private sector firms and professionals required by law to identify and report suspicious transactions related to money laundering. Private-sector forensic accounting firms play an active role in investigating financial crimes. The media is also actively reporting on organized crime in Canada, and there have been no known recent attacks on journalists by criminal groups.