TOM GODFREY | TORONTO SUN
Jan 09, 2012

TORONTO - Canadian police and border agents have stepped up their search for a Top 10 of the country's "Most Wanted" war criminals and street thugs who they claim have fled deeper underground to avoid arrest and deportation.

Officers of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) are working long hours to locate and arrest the most notorious of 60 fugitives, whose mugshots and biographies were released on an agency website last July.

Police are concerned the fugitives, many who are violent and all desperate, are committing serious crimes on the lam and will do anything to evade authorities and being deported home.

Hundreds of tips from the public have led to the arrests of 14 of the Most Wanted, with seven of them being deported so far. Additional fugitives are being added to the lineup next month, officials said.

Some 1,400 hardened criminals and 20,000 others sought on immigration warrants in the GTA are already being hunted for removal by the CBSA, RCMP and other agencies.

A Conservative MP who spearheaded a drive to take the manhunt online said he's thrilled by the success of the "Most Wanted" program.

"It has greatly exceeded everyone's expectations," Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said. "All the individuals who have been apprehended were individuals who had been at large for some time, and all leads to their whereabouts had been exhausted."

He credits tips from the public and law enforcement partners in helping to apprehend the fugitives.

"We have learned most Canadians are committed to ensuring that Canada remains a welcoming place for those who play by the rules," Toews said. "We continue to be prepared to send foreign criminals of all sorts back to their countries of origin."

The CBSA have teams of escort officers to ensure the dangerous fugitives are returned to their homelands.

Escorts are on standby to return members of the Top 10 who include an accused kidnapper from China; a rapist from Jamaica, helicopter gunship shooter from Peru and suspects accused of atrocities in Afghanistan, Nigeria, Yugoslavia and Somalia.

Officers said the fugitives have dug in deeper due to intense pressure from the police, public and media.

"They can run but they can't hide forever," said one front-line officer who is tracking a suspect. "At some point they will make a mistake and we will be there."

CBSA officers execute 3,000 warrants a year for those who have violated immigration laws or refused to leave the country. Of the 15,000 people deported last year from Canada, about 2,000 were kicked out for criminality.

Anyone seeking information on the fugitives are asked to visit the CBSA website or call a Border Watch Line at 1-888-502-9060.

A Top 10 of the Most Wanted includes:

1 - Guo Wei Wu, 44, of China, is sought for the kidnapping of real-estate agent Jianguo (Tony) Han and his client, Xiu Jun (Johnny) Fei from Fei's multimillion-dollar home on Featherstone Dr. in Mississauga. Fei was discovered alive but Han was found dead. Police suspect Wu may have fled to China to avoid arrest.

2 - Kiemtor Alidu, 57, of Scarborough, was a supporter of Ghana's military dictatorship from 1982 and 1985 and vice-chairman of a "People's Defence Committee," a quasi-police force that kept an eye on political dissidents. More than 100 people were murdered because he and colleagues fingered them as threats to the regime.

3 - Jose Domingo Malaga Arica, 57, of Mississauga, is originally from Peru and on the run for allegedly participating in helicopter gunship raids on villages in which women and children were machine-gunned indiscriminately and to transporting accused criminals to be tortured.

4 - Mohammed Hassan Farah, 56, is hiding in the Toronto area after being accused of taking part in atrocities in Somalia that violated Crimes Against Humanity. Farah is inadmissible to Canada due to war crimes and is sought for deportation.

Read the complete story at Toronto Sun

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