Chinese networks for organized crime and Mexican cartels use Canadian ports to act highly lucrative fish bubbles against the forerunner chemicals that are needed to produce fentanyl, as a memo of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) emerges.
It is said that organized criminal networks transport the fish – Totoaba – from the west coast to China, while the chemical forerunners to produce toxic medication are sent by Canadian ports.
The report of the CBSA, which was first received by Radio-Canada by freedom of information, said that Canada was used as a “transit point” for the illegal product-the amount of fish that flow through Canada and the amount of fentanyling templates is exchanged for this were not included in the report.
The document, originally published in French in October 2024, says: “
A memo of the Canada Border Services Agency says that Totoaba fishing bubbles worth tens of thousands are traded against fentanyl components.
Poly criminal groups refer to networks that had more than illegal goods, like fake were or illegal drugs.
The CBSA report shows that a new criminal network called “Dragon Cartel”, which consists of Chinese and Mexican citizens, has been set up to deal specifically with the Totoaba people trade.
The seven -sided document says that western ports are a goal and that “people in Canada regularly operate illegal import, export and breeding of protected species”.
Luis Horacio Nájera, a Mexican journalist who examined the antitrust activity, said that the port of Vancouver was particularly susceptible to criminal activities because he connects the West Coast ports of Manzanillo and Los Angeles with the Asian and European markets.
A radio canada examination showed that Mexican cartels are the bladder of the endangered Totoaba fish with Chinese triads to obtain chemicals for the production of fentanyl. The Mexican journalist and author Luis Nájera says that the port of Vancouver is the perfect strategic point to complete the illegal business.
“Since the world is globalized, organized crimes is also globalized,” he said.
“This is a kind of strategic point for this replacement of illegal goods, and they found the opportunity, the possibility and the infrastructure to do these illegal business in Vancouver.”
A press release from 2023 from the US finance department also showed that Vancouver has become a “strategic” position for the Sinaloa cartel in the distribution of fentanyl.
$ 80k by kilo
The Totoaba is an endangered fish species that lives in the Gulf of California off the west coast of Mexico. The species can reach two meters long and have been massive wildlife levels for several years.
But the fish are mainly known for their swimming bubbles, which were sold for such high prices that they were called the “cocaine of the sea”.
Totoaba swimming bubbles are sold on the Chinese black market for traditional cuisine, medicine and cosmetics and can sell for up to $ 80,000 per kilogram.
The rare product is so lucrative that some types of pork whales were pushed to the edge of the extinction and were illegally killed in droves, while poachers try to extract the fish from them.
Nájera said that, due to the enormous cargo, the Canadian authorities drive through ports, in connection with the difficulty of identifying illegally traded bladder in the middle of other legal fish products.
“It is difficult because this is not a cocaine, isn’t it? Cocaine is usually defined. It is easy to identify at some point. This is fish – and how do you know which fish is that or that?” He said that the CBSA may have to invest in special training courses and infrastructure to identify smuggled products.
“If you have a container full of Tilapia or Octopus or whatever under these loads, you can smuggle these Totoaba bubbles.”
According to the CBSA report, Totoaba Swim Bladders are often smuggled alongside frozen fishing and squid.
And while they are often transported in coolers and backpacks, criminal networks expand their methods around the smuggling in petrol tanks, spare tires and hidden vehicle compartments.
Headlight on Fentanyl from Canada
The revelation takes place in a time increased political attention to the river and the production of fentanyl from Canada.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly raised the drug as justification for amazing tariffs that are initially put on hold.
In response to this, Canada has appointed a fentanyl tender to bring the already low percentage of the fatal opioid to south to the United States.
Canada has also assumed a previously announced border security plan of $ 1.3 billion, which reinforces the 49th parallel to new chopper, technology and personnel to call cartels as terrorist organizations.
Numbers of US customs and border protection (CBP) show that the seizures of the highly toxic drug along the Canadian border are relatively low compared to other countries. The agency confiscated 19.5 kilograms of Fentanyl on the Canadian border last year, compared to 9,570 kilograms on its border with Mexico.
Fentanyl influenced both the USA and Canada. Over 49,000 Canadians have died of overdoses of toxic drugs since 2016, in the same year before BC the toxic drug crisis explained to the emergency of public health. The US centers for the control and prevention of diseases said that the drug killed more than 74,000 Americans in 2023.
While the distribution of fentanyl from Canada is concentrated again, Nájera said that it was difficult to quantify which part of the fentanyl components will be redirected to other international markets after trading.
“These chemicals from China, some of them may stay here in Canada, but I am sure that a considerable number of them go all the way back to Mexico in the port of Manzanillo or the area of Los Cabos.”
According to the Brookings Institute, the economic relations between China and Mexico have increased quickly, whereby the trade between the two countries reached $ 100 billion in 2021.
