In a crisis like a pandemic, crime tends to find new opportunities: slim resources, weakened enemies, business failures and sloppy security.

Experts agree #COVID19 crisis has hit facets of underworld life at varying degrees of intensity. Here’s how:

thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…
Immediately after the pandemic hit last March, illegal drugs became the toilet paper of the underworld — meaning cocaine, heroin and other narcotics were the target of panic buying and hoarding. thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…
After shutdowns and schedule shrinking hit many major sports leagues, gamblers showed they were eager to drop bets on virtually anything, including chess. thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…
The closure of government-run casinos also created an opening for lavish, spa-like illegal betting palaces to thrive. thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…
Opportunities presented themselves for organized criminals with deep pockets and plenty of liquid cash to become “hidden partners” in previously legitimate businesses. thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…
Criminals quickly cashed in on fact that cyberspace was suddenly central to work, education, health and entertainment after the #COVID19 outbreak. thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…
The pandemic has made it even tougher to fight human trafficking globally and in Canada, experts say.

Sexual exploitation — including “webcam sex trafficking” — has shot up during the pandemic, feeding off poverty, isolation and desperation. thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…
“The bad news is the surge of online activity during lockdown has multiplied the opportunities for the ever-growing cyber criminal fraternity,” Misha Glenny, a fellow at the Berggruen Institute think tank, writes on his blog. thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…
To discuss how organized crime has been affected by #COVID19, @rajumudhar talked with Peter Edwards, a reporter on the Star’s Courts Crime and Justice team, on the Star's #ThisMatters #podcast: thestar.com/podcasts/thism…

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More from @TorontoStar

17 Nov
NEW: Kraft Heinz is bringing production of Heinz ketchup to be sold in Canada back to Canada.

thestar.com/business/2020/…
This comes after Heinz closed their processing plant in 2014, devastating the tomato-growing town of Leamington, Ontario.

A look back to a story from May 2014: thestar.com/news/stardispa…
Then, some hope. French’s ketchup, which made headlines for boasting of using Canadian grown tomatoes from Leamington brought production back into Canada.

Story from 2016:

thestar.com/business/2016/…
Read 5 tweets
17 Nov
#StarInvestigation: A foreign country has surrendered “evidence” to Toronto homicide detectives probing the targeted murders of billionaires Barry and Honey Sherman, police documents filed in court reveal.

thestar.com/news/canada/20…
“The results (of these searches) have yielded new evidence and have assisted investigators in corroborating existing evidence, such as witness statements, tips and video surveillance,” according to Det.-Const. Dennis Yim of the Toronto homicide unit.
thestar.com/news/canada/20…
The killing of the couple occurred on the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017. Their bodies had gone undiscovered for 36 hours until a realtor, touring clients through their 12,000-square-foot north Toronto home, came upon a macabre scene.
thestar.com/news/canada/20…
Read 4 tweets
17 Nov
He flipped a property in London, Ont. and profited. Now at 27, he wants to buy a house in the GTA but his girlfriend wants to stay in the city for her job. What should his small business owner making taking home $2,000 a month do? thestar.com/business/perso…
Here are Robert's monthly spends. Most of his income goes back into his business, so he takes $2,000 a month home. thestar.com/business/perso… Image
In #MillennialMoney, we ask people to share their daily spending for a week to get an idea of their finances. Here is week 1, before the money coach's advice:
thestar.com/business/perso… Image
Read 5 tweets
17 Nov
NEW: An area in the northeast corner of Brampton has a “shocking” 19 per cent COVID-19 test positivity rate — a rate double that of the U.S. thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…
The area is leading a list of 30 GTA neighbourhoods that are seeing alarming numbers of people testing positive for the virus: one in five people test positive for COVID-19, the data shows.
thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…
The ICES data shows that over the past month, the test positivity rate is higher in the lowest-income neighbourhoods compared to the highest-income neighbourhoods — and is increasing more in the lower-income neighbourhoods.

thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…
Read 6 tweets
16 Nov
Lest anyone forget. All parties at Queen’s Park will support government legislation making it illegal for any Ontario business owner to prohibit employees from wearing poppies for #RemembranceDay. #ONpoli story by @robertbenzie: thestar.com/politics/provi…
Why? The forthcoming law was sparked by Whole Foods Market banning staff from sporting @RoyalCdnLegion poppies on their uniforms. thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…
While the U.S.-based grocery chain, which is owned by Amazon and operates 14 high-end supermarkets in Canada, reversed its controversial policy after a nationwide outcry, it was still pushed to have a law on the books. thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…
Read 6 tweets
16 Nov
This morning, Moderna said its COVID-19 vaccine appears to be 94.5 per cent effective, according to preliminary data from the company’s still ongoing study.

That is particularly good news for Canada. @alex_n_boyd explains:
thestar.com/news/canada/20…
Canada already has a contract in place for 56 million doses of the Moderna vaccine and 20 million doses of Pfizer’s candidate, should they complete testing and receive Health Canada approval.

thestar.com/news/canada/20…
The new Moderna results are an early look at the final stage of human testing, but the trial isn’t done yet, so things could change. At this point, the company says its results show no major safety concerns.

thestar.com/news/canada/20…
Read 4 tweets

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