Shin came from a loving, supportive, hard-working family. He had a top-tier education and ample opportunities at a legitimate career. On the surface, his descent into the criminal underworld seemed unlikely, but it fit an emerging pattern. According to police, in multicultural Toronto, certain types of criminal activity are often tied to ethnicity: South Americans dominate cocaine production, while Italians handle the distribution and Mexicans the street-level trafficking; Chinese rule the meth trade, thanks to ties to mainland China where raw chemicals originate; Middle Eastern immigrants largely control the heroin market; and West Africans are the masters of identity fraud. The production and distribution of marijuana is an Asian specialty, due mostly to cultural connections to Canada’s West Coast, the mecca of pot, where the vaunted B.C. Bud is grown.

BY MALCOLM JOHNSTON | JANUARY 16, 2014 AT 10:25 AM

Certain types of criminal activity are often tied to ethnicity:
South Americans dominate cocaine production,
while Italians handle the distribution and
Mexicans the street-level trafficking;
Chinese rule the meth trade, thanks to ties to mainland China where raw chemicals originate;
Middle Eastern immigrants largely control the heroin market; and
West Africans are the masters of identity fraud.

The production and distribution of marijuana is an Asian specialty, due mostly to cultural connections to Canada’s West Coast, the mecca of pot, where the vaunted B.C. Bud is grown.