Good afternoon. My name is Kevin O'Sullivan. I am the Head of Security and Intelligence for Imperial.
I came to this position after a more-than-20-year career in law enforcement, in which I was most recently the detachment commander for the national investigation service of the Canadian Armed Forces here in Ottawa, responsible for investigations of serious and sensitive crimes both domestically and abroad. My experience in both these roles has afforded me first-hand knowledge of the impact and the immense profits gained by organized crime groups through their involvement with illegal tobacco.
Since 2012 there have been four major investigations in Canada that have demonstrated specific links between contraband tobacco and organized crime, those being Lycose, Mygale, Cendrier, and most recently Olios.
I am pleased to contribute to your review of this act, because the ties between illegal tobacco and other criminal activity are well documented, most recently in a March 29 report by W5, which I encourage you to watch.