Vancouver police identify ‘gap’ in sale of luxury boats to organized crime

Vancouver police have identified a gap in the record-keeping and sale of high-end boats to people tied to organized crime in the city.

Deputy Chief Laurence Rankin said the information has been supplied to Crown counsel acting on behalf of the government in the Cullen Commission of Inquiry to Money Laundering, which began Monday.

“We’ve identified a number of individuals with ties to organized crime that possess pleasure craft operator cards who were operating marine vessels with significant value, but those vessels weren’t registered to them,” Rankin told the Vancouver Police Board Feb. 20.

“So based on that information, we believe it reveals gaps in the record-keeping for the sale and purchase of marine vehicles, and that may require and benefit from a review of regulatory processes that exist at this time.”

Rankin said police reviewed 10 years of investigations in Vancouver involving “substantive criminal offences” that had a nexus to money…