B.C.’s Attorney General says it’s astounding that the RCMP illegal gaming unit was disbanded after a report surfaced alleging organized crime was running rampant in casinos.

Dave Eby was weighing in on a police report from 2009 alleging high-level crimes in B.C. casinos, which was unearthed this week in a Global News investigation.

“The fact that this document that outlines extortion allegations, kidnapping allegations, organized crime being involved in casinos, money laundering, from 2009 – that this preceded the decision to de-fund the policing team – is pretty astounding, how that decision was made given that this report was in hand,” Eby says.

“And the fact that money laundering then continued at B.C. casinos at a high volume until 2017 – when we banned large cash transactions as a new government – an astounding series of decisions, and really I think this document will help people understand why it was so disturbing what was happening in the casinos for so long.”

The report also alleges a forced prostitution to pay gambling debts, among other crimes, and says someone involved with Asian organized crime was able to by a portion of a BC Lottery Corporation casino.

The RCMP illegal gaming unit was funded by BCLC, and it was axed three months after the police report from the illegal gaming unit was provided to government, by then-Liberal-Solicitor General Rich Coleman.

Eby also says he was aware of the document before it was made public this week.

“I think that this document which is from 2009, that it’s now in the public domain, really helps people understand some of the material that maybe hasn’t made its way public yet, that informs why government has decided to move to a public inquiry here.”

The public inquiry will start on Feb. 24 with a week of hearing in federal court. A full timeline of the inquiry can be found here.