The Canadian Government announced this Tuesday that it will propose to the United States the creation of a joint police force to patrol its common border to combat drug and human trafficking between the two countries.
The announcement is part of a package of measures valued at 1.3 billion Canadian dollars (908 million US dollars) that Canada wants to implement to reinforce the border in direct response to President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs of 25 % to the import of Canadian and Mexican products.
Trump indicated in November that the tariffs, considered by Ottawa as devastating to its economy, would remain in place until the flow of fentanyl and undocumented migrants from Canada stops.
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The Minister of Public Security of Canada, Dominic LeBlanc, who on Monday also assumed the Finance portfolio after the sudden resignation of Chrystia Freeland, assured in a press conference that the joint force would include units specialized in synthetic drugs, as well as special units, among others.
In addition, Canada will create an aerial intelligence unit equipped with helicopters, drones and border surveillance towers to control the border, considered the largest without military forces in the world.
According to data from the United States Border Protection Agency published this Tuesday by Canadian media, in 2022 US security forces seized 14 kilos of fentanyl and 26.7 kilos in 2023. From January to October of this year the figure has been 21 kilos.
Ottawa is also committed to providing the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) with teams of drug detection dogs and chemical detection tools to be installed in the country’s main ports.
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With information from EFE
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