The lack of a dedicated port police could be a security gap that's allowing stolen vehicles to slip out of the country undetected, warns the provincial government's money laundering investigator.
If those luxury cars can make it to Asia they can command a much higher price, leading to higher profits for organized crime, according to Peter German, who is investigating money laundering and organized crime in reports commissioned by the provincial government.
"No one is working our ports like they should be," Inspector Brian MacDonald, who runs the RCMP's auto-crime unit IMPACT, told German.
Just three border guards are tasked to review export documentation in 100,000 files a year, German found.
Since the Ports Canada Police was disbanded in 1997, it's been left to municipal police to patrol docks and ports, he noted in his report.
Compare that to Seattle, where the Port of Seattle Police Department has 150 officers, and is often aided by federal agents.
"In the post 9/11 world this is a serious gap in our law enforcement umbrella," German wrote.
German's report, which focused largely on the role of thousands of luxury vehicles a year in a money laundering scheme, also looked at the role stolen cars play in illicit profits.
In both cases, criminals wish to get the cars to Asia, where they can command significantly higher prices than in Canada.
So the incentive is strong to come up with inventive schemes, like disguising the vehicles as other, less suspicious or valuable objects.
Police in Montreal found 30 vehicles in shipping containers hidden behind mattresses in 2014.
And a $280,000 Ferrari, destined for Hong Kong from California, was described in the manifest as "used fitness equipment," according to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
Three stolen cars were found in a container in the Port of Vancouver in January, and the Canada Border Services Agency seized eight stolen vehicles in Metro Vancouver in 2018.
But that could be a fraction of what's out there, said Jean-Pierre Fortin, the head of the Customs and Immigration Union.
"The situation in all ports in Canada is critical. We need direct intervention with the government," he told CTV News Vancouver.
Low penalties for smuggling offenses can lead to law enforcement agencies like the RCMP looking elsewhere, he said.
One solution would be to allow his members to investigate more, he said.
"Our officers are trained, they are armed, they would like to intervene, but unfortunately because of different policies they are not doing that," he said.
IMPACT, the RCMP auto-crime unit, has recommended a joint police-CBSA unit, with secondments from ICBC and the Insurance Bureau of Canada.
"Although an ad-hoc arrangement such as that can target a specific commodity, without long-standing funding commitments and a permanent presence, it really is a temporary solution," German wrote.
