SECURITY for Canadian diplomats and Royal Canadian Mountain Police officers in Kingston has been increased after reports that crime gangs are planning to target them, a Canadian newspaper reported yesterday.

The Toronto Sun, in its lead story 'Jamaica's bloodbath may spread to Toronto', said Jamaican gangsters were seeking retaliation for the smashing of their drug networks and the deportation of thousands who return home to compete for spoils.

The newspaper said security officials had reported that police intelligence showed gang members may resort to intimidating Canadian diplomats and 'Mounties' (mounted police) by tailing their vehicles as they leave their sprawling, fortified West Kings House Road compound.
The report quoted unnamed officials who claimed that police based at foreign missions were being targeted because they were circulating foreign-based intelligence to smash drug smuggling operations in Jamaica.

Superintendent James Forbes, head of the Constabulary Communication Network, told the Observer last night that he was not aware of the Canadians stepping up their security, and was therefore unable to comment on the report.
No diplomat or ranking government official have been among the 944 people murdered in Jamaica so far this year.
However, a Government official said last night that Jamaica "has a problem and we have to deal with it now before countries start to issue advisories".

According to the report out of Toronto, the homes of all Canadian diplomats in Kingston were guarded around the clock.
The Sun report quoted a Jamaican police superintendent as saying that whatever is happening in Jamaica will soon be exported to Canada and other countries.

In the meanwhile, media reports in Canada yesterday reported that Toronto's Police Chief, Julian Fantina had accepted an invitation from Jamaica's security minister, Peter Phillips, to visit the island on a fact-finding mission to better understand the dynamics of the country's high murder rate.
The Sun said Fantino was scheduled to visit in January, but a source at the security ministry told the Observer yesterday that the visit could be anytime now. "It could be ahead of the announcement of the new crime plan. He is coming soon," the source said.

Yesterday's report in the Sun said Canadian High Commission spokesman, Robert Richard, declined to discuss security concerns in Jamaica, but that security was increased at its missions abroad after the last Osama bin Laden tape surfaced.
Jamaica is a major transshipment point for drugs entering North America. A major portion of the drugs entering the island is believed to be from Colombia.
About 300 Jamaicans are deported each year from Canada, and more than 1,000 from the United States.

Data obtained from the Jamaican Embassy in Washington showed that United States authorities have deported 15,797 Jamaicans over the last 10 years. But, according to the Jamaican police, only 20 per cent of them have criminal records here.
Last Friday, St Lucia's foreign minister, Julian Hunte, blamed deportees for the increased crime rates in the 15-member Caribbean Community, and proposed that a meeting be held to discuss the matter.

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