When you’re sworn in to a cabinet position in government, public servants brief you on the big issues in your ministry. I’ll never forget the briefing I got from our gaming regulator that started: “Get ready, I’m about to blow your mind.”

That briefing outlined for me a massive transnational money-laundering operation actively targeting B.C.’s Lower Mainland casinos.

Since that first briefing, and my office’s deep dig into this issue supported by exceptional work in the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Public Safety, we have uncovered a problem so large, and so systemic, that our provincial government has called a public inquiry that will begin public hearings this year, and begin hearing witnesses early next year. The federal government will be participating in the inquiry as well.

Here’s what we didn’t know in August 2017 that we know now: An estimated $5 billion was laundered through B.C.’s real-estate market last year, according to international experts; B.C.’s casinos were used to openly launder at least $100 million in cash linked to the sale of drugs, including fentanyl; the problem at our casinos was so severe that a professor in Australia made us famous with his detailing of the “Vancouver Model” of money laundering. B.C. also appears to be a centre for trade-based money laundering using luxury cars.

A former DEA agent recently wrote a book that included sections about how the Lower Mainland acts as a hub for major international crime groups from Mexico and the Middle East. This likely explains why Phantom Secure, the company that at its peak was likely one of the largest international providers of encrypted cellphones to criminal organizations and was the subject of a years-long international criminal investigation, was based in Richmond.

Phantom Secure appears to have been a close neighbour of Silver International, a Richmond money service business that was the subject of the biggest anti-money laundering prosecution (and then the biggest anti-money laundering failed prosecution) in Canadian history. The phone company was also linked by media to allegations of corruption within the RCMP related to several charges recently brought against a senior civilian intelligence member of that police force.

Given the rapid escalation of the revelations on this file since my first briefing, I’ve been invited to the World Bank to talk about the problems we face in B.C. with money laundering and transnational crime. They want to hear how our province is trying to tackle it, since Canada, and B.C., have become a subject of international concern, regularly profiled in American and international anti-money laundering watchdog reports.

I’ve accepted the invitation, of course. I’m glad to talk about our government’s work to fix our gambling regulator, ban bulk cash transactions at our casinos, increase enforcement at casinos, create world-leading transparency around real estate and company ownership, improve enforcement of securities laws, and support improved policing at the provincial level on this issue.

We have no choice but to act quickly: B.C. has a body count and numbers of mourning family members growing every day as a result of the highly profitable criminal-led fentanyl overdose epidemic, and billions in annual real-estate transactions linked by police and government studies to criminal activity. We know that gangsters at one point dropped tens of millions of dollars of laundered cash at Lower Mainland casinos in a single month before the government directed casinos to refuse the cash. That money has gone somewhere — we need to know where.

While our government has been active, the federal government has a role to play, too. In response to our concerns, they’ve changed the laws around money laundering, making it easier for police to lay charges. And the feds committed new anti-money laundering funding in a news release in March — we’re waiting to hear what share of that money will come to B.C. in the form of new officers.

We’re waiting keenly because there’s a lot more work we need to do together with the federal government. This past spring, we found out through a report commissioned by my office that there was not a single dedicated RCMP officer working on the issue in B.C.

There are things only Ottawa and federal police officers can do. The federal government is responsible for banks, for the anti-money laundering agency FINTRAC, for the RCMP, for international work with governments and police agencies around the world.

Regardless of which party is in power, we can’t fix this problem without Ottawa; the work needs to continue after the election. British Columbians expect nothing less.

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David Eby is a lawyer and member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, serving as attorney general.

The Star Vancouver invited local people to step in as guest editors each Friday and have their say on an issue that’s important to them. Next week, musician and cancer survivor Bif Naked focuses on the best way to help a loved one through cancer treatment. Read the full guest editor series here

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