Assist to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

This is a very brief investigative primer for any Canadian authorities who are looking for Mexican cartel operators within their country. I doubt that any RCMP types will read this blog, but if they do, they can consider this.

Joaquin Guzman Loera (El Chapo) is running the majority of the Canadian Traffic from the Mexican side of things. There were cells of Los Caballeros Templario (based in Washington State, US) but now that they're allies, I'm lumping them into one big pot.

This is important to know, because Chapo is a micromanager. He didn't last as long as he has nor grow in both personal wealth and power through the hemisphere by being stupid. Which means that they won't be making mistakes that the bush league narcos make. 

If you're accustomed to working on Asian targets (who almost religiously follow the same low key profile), you're going to feel at home working on these cartels.

Automobiles - Don't expect to see these guys driving around in Ferraris. The vehicle of choice for running around and being cool is usually the pick-up truck. They will also drive nondescript sedans simply because they don't attract attention. However, because they're from Sinaloa for the most part, you will see "Sinaloa Crap" on the cars. Stickers, Virgin of Guadalupe or Santa Muerte statues. You need to learn the difference between the two. Regular Catholic Mexicans usually have the Virgin of Guadalupe icons on their dash. If you find anything to do with Senora de los Sombras, Nino Negro Santa or the Holy Death (Santa Muerte) (different names for the same saint), you have a narco on your hands.

Restaurants - Everyone wants food and culture that reminds them of home close at hand. They need a place to hide in plain sight and the leaders want to hold court. So you'll find some really good Mexican restaurants popping up. Remember, it doesn't need to be a hole in the wall because these cartels have a lot of money to spend. Look for Sinaloa, Jalisco or Michoacan style cooking. If you can't tell the difference between Sonora, Quintana Roo and Jalisco style cooking - do your homework. They will hang out where they are comfortable.

Homes - They will live well and they will live on land with a buffer around it. They will have ranches and those ranches will have runways cut on them. Expect over ten ranches in any area where the narcos are active. They'll set them up with equipment, barns, sorting pens for livestock, etc. and they will leave them dormant until they're needed. Usually one one will be active at a time. That's just how they roll. It's a shell game.

Clothing - The well healed narcos will dress 'Mexican upscale casual' - short hair, expensive dress shirt, usually worn outside (not tucked in), nice slacks and nice shoes. The Sinaloa Cowboys, who work on the ranches (bottom feeders) will dress the way that they did when they were home. Do some homework on those dress patterns. These guys won't deviate from what they are comfortable wearing.

Family Life - Most wealthy Mexican men have more than one wife. The wealthier and more powerful, the more wives. It's not uncommon for a narco to have one Casa Grande (the first wife) and half a dozen Casa Chicas (the subsequent girlfriend). Mexicans don't wear condoms so those women all have children. Alert your family support people to keep a sharp eye out for women from Mexico who apply for welfare benefits and aid for their children. They almost all will. Narcos have money but they are cheap in terms of spending that money on the Casa Chicas. This information can be exploited and it's possibly the best single method of finding out who the narcos are. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Mexican Weddings - Track them, cover them, photograph the people who show up, collect license plate numbers. They are political affairs within the community and they are LARGE. It will help you to understand who is there. The important people will usually travel in Humvees or Suburbans. Some may be armored - but I'm not sure that they have a lot of armored vehicles in Canada. If you find one, the occupant is important.

Good Luck

If anyone wants more they can e-mail me. If you do e-mail me, please provide your RCMP/Law Enforcement affiliation because I will vet you before I contact you.

Canadian-NY-Sinaloa Connection

Amilia Racine - Mob girlfriend
or a madona in need of a
manager now? You decide.

The City of New York is reeling with concern over who will supply their marijuana needs now that Canadian Citizen Jimmy Cournoyer (33) is in custody and headed for a long stay in the US. Not really. He's been in custody for almost a year. The trial is spinning up so USGOV is spitting out a few details of the case that the defense vigorously denies.

A friend wanted me to provide some after-the-fact coverage of this on the blog that you're reading. For more, go to nypost.com.

Cournoyer was a major player in West Coast Canadian hydroponic marijuana (BC Bud). He spent his money like a drunken French Canadian, on pretty women such as model/actress/companion, Amilia Racine (left); on fast cars; on yachts and on jet aircraft. He partied big with Hollywood royalty like Leonardo DiCaprio.

Amilia Racine - They never
used to make Canadians
like this. Just saying...

The US Attorney's Office believes that he trafficked about $1 billion (retail value) in BC Bud.

Amilia Racine may not be as innocent as she appears in the photographs here on this blog. Her brother, Mario, was second in command to Cournoyer according to government documents now made public.

Cournoyer supplied John Venizelos (LCN - Bonanno crime family) with marijuana products that he distributed to the needy New York City market. John Venizelos contends that he is not a drug dealer. He manages night clubs in New York City and a strip club (Crazy Horse Too) in Las Vegas, NV.

Amilia Racine - innocent victim?

The Hells Angels moved the marijuana from British Colombia to Eastern Canada and from there into New York State. Cournoyer, ever the entrepreneur, also used marijuana profits to purchase cocaine (for distribution in New York) from the Sinaloa Federation (Mexican drug cartel). Then again, it might just be a bad misunderstanding. Cournoyer and friends (including the lovely Amilia) may be innocent of the charges laid against them.

Jimmy Cournoyer’s lawyer, Gerald McMahon, promises a vigorous court battle. Venizelos’ lawyer, John Meringolo insisted that $100,000-plus found in his house by DEA agents isn’t drug cash. (nypost.com)

Since the embarrassment suffered by Joaquin Guzman Loera (El Chapo), who'd allegedly been supplying Cournoyer from his Canadian cocaine supply, he's vetting his suppliers more carefully. If you're driving around in a Bugati Veyron, Chapo will have his competitors sell to you...

The Corporate Sinaloa Federation

It's been happening in a big way in the Sinaloa Federation for the past six months and plans are underway to 'work' through the holiday break.

Feliz Navidad in Canada

WORK? No not that kind of work. They won't be moving drugs during the break - at least not many. They continue to establish their Canadian infrastructure and will be spending a piece of the holidays there in order to 'work while the sun shines' -- sorta -- to prepare for 2013 when you're going to see at least half of the methamphetamine products sold by the Sinaloa Federation and particularly by Joaquin Guzman Loera (Chapo) pushed not from Mexico, but to the United States through Canada. Even though the route is farther, the scrutiny is an order of magnitude less and they know how SLOW government moves. 

Experimentation with Canadian routes has been very successful beginning in April 2012 and continuing to the present day.

Chapo has visited Canada twice in the past six months that I'm sure of, and he may have slipped under my radar a couple more times. He's been up there visiting friends, making plans and trying to build a new (if not novel) system that maximizes profit by minimizing risk.

Jesus Malverde, SantoNarco

I don't know if anyone noticed, but ...the cash that used to flow from the US to Mexico, across the International Border is drying up. The first rule of investigation is to follow the money. But the Sinaloa Federation has, in a sense, gone cashless. Most of the profits from drug sales in the US are now being moved through banking channels. Only a fraction is crossing into the plazas. There are a couple of reasons for this, but the bottom line is that it's simply less expensive for the narcos to do this. 

Since the Sinaloa Federation accounts for at least 80% of the drugs moved from Mexico into the US, somebody should pay attention to this. I doubt that the RCMP reads this blog, but maybe they should because there will be more specifics on the "Northern Route" popping up here and there as I'm disposed to blog it.

There will still be cocaine shipments, but the principal Mexican narcos (meaning Chapo, Mayo and Mencho) are convinced that they are better off dealing in cheap, very high quality methamphetamine. Anticipate a sharp decline in cocaine shipments to the US. It's business and supply and cost with an eye toward profit, drive this market. That should raise the price of cocaine, and when that happens, you'll see the independents move that more because of the same supply and demand situation. For the moment, the Sinaloa Federation is going corporate and that means that they are going to allow the independents to take the big risks while they focus on the surer thing.