AKWESASNE,-CP – Ottawa is pledging $12 million toward toward enhancing public safety in Akwesasne and fighting organized crime after the deaths of eight migrant in the St Lawrence River earlier this year.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino was in the community Thursday and announced more than $12 million for policing and other initiatives over the next five years.
The money includes a $10.4-million funding renewal to help the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service fight organized crime. The police service will also receive separate amounts for new police equipment and for community groups working to prevent violence.
“Akwesasne, like all other communities at the same time, has been confronting the challenges around crime and I would point out that we have seen issues that involve the illegal flow of contraband, obviously organized criminal elements, and most recently, the tragedy involving eight lives lost around an ongoing investigation and human smuggling,” he said.
Authorities have described Akwesasne as a popular spot for human smuggling due its geography, which straddles the borders between Quebec, Ontario and New York state.
Mendicino said Akwesasne’s “unique dynamics” require police to focus on border issues — and to obtain the collaboration of different law enforcement agencies. He said the funding would allow Akwesasne police to participate in a joint investigative team alongside other agencies, including RCMP, Quebec provincial police, Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“It is the heart of that goal in achieving more collaboration that will facilitate greater information sharing and a unified effort across various levels of law enforcement and border security agencies, which will allow us to invest, investigate, disrupt, and deter organized criminal activity,” the minister said.
Akwesasne police chief Shawn Dulude said the funding would allow police to purchase technology, such as cameras and drones, that would increase surveillance on the community’s roads and waterways.
Dulude told reporters in April that police had completed 48 separate interceptions involving 80 people trying to enter the United States illegally since January, but admitted Thursday that his force hadn’t arrested any smugglers yet this year.
“Rest assured that what needs to be done internationally is being done by our partner agencies such as the RCMP, and what needs to be done locally or within the region is being done through (Akwesasne police) and our neighbouring agencies,” he said.
