Losses from credit card fraud in Canada was $477 Million (501 Million Canadian) in 2009, down from $488 Million (512 Million Canadian) in 2008.

Losses from debit card fraud increased to $135 Million (142 Million Canadian) in 2009, up from $100 (105 Million Canadian) in 2008.

Source:  Conal Pierse, “Mobsters want to be your online friends,” Vancouver Sun, August 21, 2010.

Organized crime groups were responsible for 138 homicides in Canada in 2008, an increase of 20 from the year before. There was a total of 611 homicides in Canada in 2008.

There are over 900 organized crime groups in Canada.

Source:  Douglas Quan, “Organized crime staying a step ahead,” Vancouver Sun, July 16, 2010.

The financial value of the cocaine market in Canada is estimated to be $2.4 Billion in 2008.

Source:  UNODC, “The Globalization of Crime,” Chapter 4: Cocaine, June 2010.

Fraud in Canada costs consumers in the country up to $9.5 Billion (10 Billion Canadian), according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Typical fraud cases involve calling in 1-900 numbers to receive a free prize of loan offers to people with bad credit.

Source: “Fraud costs Canadians $10B annually: RCMP,” CBC News, June 1, 2010.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police seized 975,000 cartons of illegal cigarettes across the country in 2009, up from 965,000 in 2008.

Source:  Associated Press, “Feds move against contraband tobacco,” CBC News, May 28, 2010.

The United States and Canada consume 6 percent of the Afghanistan’s heroin and opium, according to the United Nations.

Source:  Ethan Baron, “Taliban revenue season in bloom,” Vancouver Sun, April 26, 2010.

Drug addicts in Canada consume between one to two tons of heroin each year, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Source:  Ethan Baron, “Taliban revenue season in bloom,” Vancouver Sun, April 26, 2010.

In 2007, US authorities seized a total of 1 kilogram of cocaine and heroin on the US-Canada border.  In 2009, 18 kilograms of cocaine and 28 kilograms of heroin was seized.

In addition to heroin and cocaine, marijuana seizures increased. In 2007, 2,792 kilograms of marijuana was seized on the northern border. In 2009, 3,423 kilograms was seized.

Source:  Associated Press, “NY’s Schumer wants northern border drug plan; Ecstasy, marijuana, heroin increasingly found,” Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2010.