The RCMP is concerned about the expansion of the Russian mafia in Canada (known as Eurasion / Eastern European Organized Crime, or E/EEOC):

Since 1989, remarkable change has occurred in the political, social, and economic climate of the FSU and its satellite states. One of the most surprising transformations has been the maturation and expansion of pre-existing underground economies into fully realized transnational organized crime syndicates. E / EEOC is not limited to FSU-based organizations, but includes groups from the former Soviet Bloc nations of Central and Eastern Europe.

The traditional hub of E / EEOC activity in Canada is the Toronto area. E / EEOC is also present in Vancouver and other urban centers.

A Canadian link has been established by the DEA, but Mexican gangs are seen as responsible for drug trafficking through Washington state:

Cocaine and crack cocaine are readily available. Crack cocaine is most prevalent in low income, urban areas. Wholesale quantities of cocaine HCl are primarily controlled by Mexican drug organizations. These organizations, with connections to large scale traffickers in California and Mexico, are the main groups responsible for cocaine destined for Washington. Cocaine is consumed in the state and smuggled into Canada for redistribution.

Russians are more active in Michigan:

Cocaine, heroin and marijuana continue to be the primary drug threats in the state of Michigan. Narcotic traffickers of varying degrees are supplied with controlled substances from source cities and areas from around the country. In addition, traffickers of Russian, Israeli and Middle Eastern descent, as well as Vietnamese criminal syndicates are involved in the importation and distribution of MDMA, with the metropolitan Detroit area serving as a transshipment point. Much of the MDMA is obtained through sources of supply based in Toronto, Ontario.

The RCMP is hard at work trying to choke off the movement of cocaine through Toronto:

Members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pearson International Airport Detachment’s General Investigation Impact Team have charged two individuals in another conspiracy to import cocaine into Canada. The pair are part of an alleged criminal drug smuggling organization that used both human couriers and cargo shipments to import cocaine into Canada through the country’s busiest airport.

In October 2004, Canada Border Services Agency interdicted a young drug courier. The courier was stopped by a member of the Canada Border Services Agency’s Integrated Customs Enforcement Team after arriving in Canada. The interview led to the discovery of four kilos of cocaine concealed in souvenirs.

So the DEA is watching Russian drug smuggling from Ontario into Michigan to get into the US market. Midway, British Columbia has an airport and is literally walking distance to the US border. The RCMP has noted the expansion of the Russian presence in the drug trade in British Columbia.

Why am I drawing this particular connection? Because someone in St Petersburg did a search specifically on Perley Edmund Holmes that hit my blog:

Domain Name (Unknown)
IP Address 87.237.114.# (SANKT-PETERBURGSKOE KABELNOE TELEVIDENIE JSC) ISP SANKT-PETERBURGSKOE KABELNOE TELEVIDENIE JSC
Location Continent : Asia
Country : Russian Federation (Facts)
State/Region : Saint Petersburg City
City : Saint Petersburg
Lat/Long : 59.8944, 30.2642 (Map)
Distance : 4,235 miles

Time of Visit Jan 27 2007 8:39:20 am
Last Page View Jan 27 2007 8:39:20 am
Visit Length 0 seconds
Page Views 1
Referring URL http://www.google.ca...203&q=Perley Holmes
Search Engine google.ca
Search Words perley holmes

The search came from a television station, so I don't think it was a mobster. Probably just a reporter following up the story. But interest from Russia in what is really a story without explicit international connections, in particular a Russian connection?

It's probably nothing. But it does remind us that cocaine is not produced in Canada. If Perley Holmes was moving cocaine from Canada to the US, the cocaine was given to him by some sort of organized crime syndicate, especially given the quantities found on Perley Holmes. The Mounties are working their way up the chain.