MONTREAL–Organized criminals in Canada are going green, turning to environmental crime as an increasingly lucrative way to raise money.

A report released yesterday by Criminal Intelligence Service Canada says crime networks have developed underground markets for electronic waste and scarce natural resources.

The annual survey of organized crime, compiled from local police reports across the country, indicates criminals are using such markets to complement traditional revenue sources, such as narcotics.

"Criminal networks can profit by collecting e-waste in developed countries such as Canada and selling it to 'recyclers' in developing nations," the service reports.

"This practice is a violation of both Canadian and international law."

The report does not put a dollar figure on illegal trafficking and disposal of computers, televisions and cellphones but warns such activity will peak, starting next year, as digital broadcast norms take effect in Canada and the United States, making millions of TVs obsolete.

"One of the reasons organized crime has been as successful as it is, is that they're (leaders are) very adaptable and it's not like they've given up any of their traditional markets," said RCMP Commissioner William Elliott, who chairs the intelligence service.

Asked to outline the scope of illegal e-waste, Elliott said: "If it wasn't lucrative, organized crime groups wouldn't be involved in it."

A United Nations environment program estimates 20 million to 50 million tonnes of e-waste is generated worldwide every year. On top of financing criminal networks, authorities are concerned about how black-market recyclers handle defunct electronics.

"We're realizing that in terms of sales of laptops and electronic devices to organized crime there is often damage to the environment and it's a national concern," said Robert Chartrand, a Montreal police investigator who heads Quebec's bureau of the service.

Often extremely toxic, much of Canada's e-waste ends up in Asia and Africa to be mined for parts.

But the environmental threat represented by organized crime also extends to our natural resources. CISC notes that criminal networks have taken up illegal poaching and resource exploitation.

"Canadian forests are vulnerable to illegal harvesting due to their relative abundance, isolation, and the large number of logging access roads," the report says.

Canada's vast wilderness is an easy target in the hunt for black market prices on rare animals.

"Illegal trade in wildlife can be as profitable as dealing in narcotics," the UN program said earlier this year.

As it did last year, CISC identified close to 900 criminal groups in Canada, operating mainly in the British Columbia lower mainland, southern Ontario and Montreal.



