Tony At 10: MENONITES IN CANADA; BLOG# 2088; AUG 18,2017

THE MESSAGE:

Canadian Mennonites emigrated to Mexico in the 1920s. Some of their descendents returned and began smuggling and selling illicit drugs into Canada. Recently, CBC TV aired a new series entitled 'Pure'. The crime based production was based on real-life drug trafficking by Mexican-born Mennonites now living in Canada. The protagonist is a Canadian Mennonite clergyman coerced into becoming a reluctant drug lord.

Sheldon Johnston, a member of the Mennonite Brethren filed a complaint with the Canadian Radio and Television Commission about 'Pure' after seeing the first episode. He stated, "As a Mennonite and former clergyman, I am deeply offended by the inaccurate and gratuitous portrayal of Mennonite culture by the CBC."

"The Mennonite faith is not one of violent, sex-abusing, law-breaking, drug-running criminals. There are no historical examples of any clergy participating in the drug trade."

In the area around Aylmer Ontario, several of the Mennonite residents today have returned from Mexico. Their ancestors had fled there in the 1920's, to avoid Conscription and prevent their men from being forced to fight in the War.

The Mennonite communities of Canada began migrating to Mexico, in particular to the northern state of Chihuahua, after being lured by grants from Mexico. The Mexican government aimed to increase agricultural production and develop a greater leniency towards child labor.

In the early 1900's many Mennonites were living in the province of Manitoba. Whole congregations left for Central and South America Where they settled and lived for many years.

THE BLURB:

In the past 30 or 40 years, thousands of families have returned to live in Southern Ontario. They are considered hard working, thrifty and industrious people living a rural, agricultural life-style. They are often seen in local markets selling their home-baked pies, fresh eggs and home-grown vegetables.

To ensure that their beliefs and values are passed on to the next generation, the Old Order often chooses to educate their children in schools they run themselves.

ALBERTA BOUND

The focus of Taber, Alberta’s infamous new bylaw deals with curbing bad behaviour. Many who live in Taber describe the Mennonites as rude and destructive. Local business and restaurant owners, who wished to remain anonymous, said they have to kick out groups of Mennonite kids on a regular basis for fighting, shouting and throwing things at other customers.

Under the guise of a religious movement that abstains from the sins of the modern world, Mexican Mennonites with connections to some of the world’s most vicious cartels have established a drug smuggling pipeline near the Alberta border.

Grassy Lake, Alberta is a small Canadian hamlet made up of 80 percent Mennonites and a bunch of farms. According to the DEA, it's also a distribution hub for an international weed and coke smuggling operation linked to one of Mexico’s deadliest drug cartels.

Mr Schrant of the DEA stated that it was only a few members of the Mennonite community who had links to the violent cartels but he believed that over many decades, some of them began working with the gangs.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) indicted seven people and seized 11,000 pounds of marijuana destined for the midwest states.

It also confiscated 30 kilograms of cocaine that were bound for several small towns in Alberta. Investigators say the drugs were ultimately destined for Calgary, where dealers can turn a higher profit than in the United States.

It seems bizarre to put the words “Mennonites” and “Drugs” in the same sentence; however, for years some members of the religious community have been smuggling narcotics from Mexico into the United States and Canada.

It started with a patriarch named Abe Harms, who fled Ontario after being busted for marijuana smuggling. He set up a drug-running operation in Mexico.

His son Enrique took over the family crime business and they began moving massive amounts of cocaine across the U.S. border. The DEA carried out large-scale undercover operations and drug busts. Today Enrique is very much a fugitive.

Various reports suggest some members were smuggling cocaine and marijuana into Canada all the way from Mexico by hiding drugs in hollowed-out car batteries and wheels of cheese.

Jacob Fehr has been sentenced to seven years in prison for bringing cartel cocaine from his former home in Chihuahua, Mexico, to Calgary. Fehr moved to Peace River in 2007, but he was caught smuggling the drug at the Coutts border crossing in January 2011.

The 38-year-old testified in his own defence, telling the judge armed cartel members threatened the lives of his family. He said it was his third trip to Alberta, which would have completed his commitment to the cartel, when he was caught with two kilograms packed into his SUV. His wife and four daughters were in the vehicle at the time.

THE QUESTION: