- Dec 5, 2010
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Twenty-five-year-old Mohamed Hersi was to board a flight to Africa on Tuesday evening, bringing his Canadian passport, a spotless record and his university-educated mind.
His boarding pass said he was bound for Egypt. But police never let him leave Torontos Pearson International Airport, arresting him on allegations that he was actually en route to becoming a terrorist in Somalia.
However, sources suggest police received a significant tip from whats known as Canadas suspicious incident reporting system.
Sometimes a missing security badge is just a missing security badge. But if badges belonging to five different employees vanish from transit authorities in five major municipalities, it might be the harbinger of something to come.
If no authority analyzes that information, however, will any agency take action?
Welcome to Vanguard Canada
Responding to national security threats requires timely information. Investigators and intelligence agencies, however, have struggled to break down some of the walls that prevent information sharing and collaboration. And with over 80 percent of Canadas critical infrastructure either privately or provincially owned, national and local authorities, let alone private firms and public agencies, have had challenges sharing their information.
This national database encourages people who work in critical sectors, such as energy utilities and mass transit systems, to phone in suspicious activities to local police. The Toronto Police Services Intelligence Unit more familiar with gangs and drugs than international terrorism is being credited for running down this lead, prior to presenting a well-developed case to federal counterparts.
The pre-emptive police measures to keep Mr. Hersi in Canada are influenced by the context of the past cases about suspects who got away. Dozens of young Western Muslims have lately disappeared from major cities in the West Minneapolis, London, Berlin and Toronto to flock to the front lines of Somalia, police say.