BURNABY -

Prime Minister Jean Chretien says he's troubled by "gangsters" in the people-trading business. He wants the book thrown at those caught smuggling migrants into Canada.

The prime minister says the number of refugees who came by boat to the West Coast this summer is less than those coming by plane every month through Toronto.

But Chretien says he's bothered most by the people traders who put migrants on rusty boats and send them across the Pacific. He wants them caught and put in jail for a long time.

Chretien says the details will be up to the immigration minister to decide.