In 1998, two Asian-based migrant smuggling networks were dismantled and 47 smugglers were arrested by Canadian and US authorities. Over a period of at least two years, these groups allegedly smuggled as many as 3,600 illegal Chinese immigrants from Fujian into New York State through Vancouver and Toronto. A 1998 investigation into the smuggling of migrants from China to Toronto involved the RCMP, the Toronto Combined Forces Asian Investigative Unit, Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the US Immigration and Naturalization Service. There are a number of organized smuggling groups moving people from China to Toronto and on to New York using fraudulent documents. Persons entering Canada illegally are often en route to the United States, travelling on forged documents provided to them by the criminal organizations.
Many illegal migrants travel under inhumane and at times life-threatening conditions.
They are often forced to work off their debts by engaging in criminal activity. In the past few years, several thousand Fukienese have remained in Canada after entering the country illegally. According to a spokesperson for Visa, AOC groups are believed to be responsible for manufacturing and distributing 75 to 80 per cent of all forged Canadian payment cards in use worldwide. Much of this activity is centred in Toronto, followed by Vancouver and Montreal. Asian-based criminals are also involved in credit card forgery, abetted by their international networks that permit them to share expertise and exchange personnel.