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Chief ‘hopeful' mobsters will be gone
RICHARD BRENNAN Immigration officials are renewing their efforts to rid York Region of high-profile Mafia fugitives, police Chief Armand La Barge says. "Clearly the situation is now that we're hopeful and expecting that they will be acting on the information that has previously been passed on to them," La Barge said yesterday. "The system unfortunately is very slow." La Barge credited the Toronto Star for highlighting the fact that at least a dozen fugitives wanted in In some cases, they have lived in the region for decades. In all of the dozen cases, federal agencies have been aware of the mobsters' presence in the region for more than 18 months. The chief said he was in The York police force is "definitely intent" on working more closely with Canadian Immigration officials and the Canada Border Services Agency in order to "take whatever actions need to be taken," he said. Calls to Immigration Minister Monte Solberg were referred to the minister of public safety, but they were not returned. A spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day earlier said the minister only speaks to reporters on "big issues." La Barge's comments came as organized-crime expert Antonio Nicaso addressed an international convention on organized crime in Nicaso told them that " In an interview, Nicaso welcomed the news that immigration officials are renewing their efforts to remove high-profile Mafia figures, identified by Italian authorities, from "We need a national integrated policing strategy that has all related agencies working as one to attack organized crime," he said. |