The Vancouver Sun reports in its Tuesday edition that British Columbia's illegal gambling task force was shut down in 2009 due to urgent "funding pressure" on the B.C. Lottery Corp. The Sun's Sam Cooper writes that a March, 2016, memo for then-finance minister Mike de Jong is the first known document indicating the illegal gambling task force was disbanded by B.C. officials for financial reasons. Also, the document suggests, in the aftermath of the unit's closure, organized crime in B.C. has been able to increase its reach into both legal and illegal casinos, for the purposes of money laundering. The document was prepared for Mr. de Jong by B.C.'s gaming policy enforcement branch. It says that from 2003 to 2009, the Integrated Illegal Gaming Enforcement Team (IIGET) investigated crimes surrounding "common gaming" houses, animal fighting and bookmaking. Meanwhile, documents filed to Mr. de Jong in March, 2016, also pointed to alleged underreporting of suspicious cash transactions. Prior to November, 2015, River Rock Casino in Richmond "did not review large cash transactions of $50,000 or less for indicators of being suspicious transactions," the March, 2016, memo says. Great Canadian Gaming declined to comment.