Commentary It sounds like the plot of a Robert De Niro movie. A powerful criminal organization uses casinos to launder drug money into “clean” cash that can then be used to purchase international real estate by corrupt politicians. It’s the kind of scheme one would expect to find in Las Vegas back in the 1960s, and it’s exactly what investigative reporter Sam Cooper discusses in the Jan. 12 episode of “Crossroads.” Only it didn’t happen in Las Vegas. It happened in Vancouver. “Chinese Spies Have Built a Criminal Stronghold in the West, Tied to Cartels and Corruption” would arguably be a terrible title for a film, but it’s exactly what Cooper uncovered while looking into real estate transactions in Vancouver, British Columbia, something he started over a decade ago. As he explains to host Joshua Philipp, his investigation began innocently enough, in as much as anything having to do with …