Border officers in the southern Ontario region have seized 45 firearms during the first five months of 2013, the Canada Border Services Agency announced Monday.
The seizures include 31 prohibited handguns, 11 restricted handguns and 22 high capacity magazines. That’s up from the same period in 2012, when the CBSA seized 36 firearms in the region.
“These seizures clearly demonstrate the excellent work our officers are doing to tackle the smuggling of illegal guns at our borders,” says Rick Comerford, southern Ontario’s regional director general.
Officers made these seizures at the Ambassador Bridge this year:
- On Feb 19, an examination of a Kentucky woman’s passenger vehicle found one restricted handgun in the console of the vehicle.
- On February 23, a search of the passenger vehicle of a Kentucky man found one prohibited handgun in the trunk.
- On March 22, an Illinois man was selected for secondary examination. BSOs conducted a search of his vehicle where one prohibited handgun and two high capacity magazines were found in a cooler bag.
These seizures took place at the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel:
- On March 3, an Ohio man was referred for secondary examination which resulted in the seizure of two prohibited handguns, three high capacity magazines and one Taser.
- On April 6, a Michigan man was interdicted after failing to stop for U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers who were conducting export examinations. CBSA BSOs conducted a secondary examination of the pickup truck and seized one restricted firearm and one high capacity magazine that were located in a bowling bag.
- On May 15, an Ontario man arrived and was referred for secondary examination. With the assistance of a CBSA Detector Dog, BSOs found four prohibited handguns and two high capacity magazines in the passenger vehicle.
Anyone with information about suspicious cross-border activity is encouraged to call the CBSA Border Watch toll-free line at 1-888-502-9060.
