Guns, drugs and cheese seized at Saskatchewan border crossings

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) noted in a recent report they had experienced a busy month of April with a number of incidents being recorded that warranted more public exposure, like an April 9 incident that led to the seizure of a .44 calibre revolver from a traveller at the Regway border crossing. Officers located the undeclared firearm inside a recreational vehicle in a bedside compartment. The owner had declared two rifles and two shotguns, but no handguns. 

The man paid a $1,000 penalty for failing to make the declaration and was returned to the United States having been denied entry into Canada. 

Officers at the North Portal border crossing station seized seven undeclared overcapacity ammunition magazines on April 6, while officers at the Estevan border crossing seized 19 undeclared overcapacity magazines on April 20. In both cases, the travellers involved were given a penalty of $500. 

On April 18 at North Portal, officers seized 42 prohibited knives, including 12 switchblades, from a commercial importer. The knives had not been properly declared. 

On April 27, CBSA officers at North Portal seized a flare gun with an insert that allowed it to shoot .45 calibre and .410 calibre ammunition as a handgun. An Oklahoma commercial driver was arrested as a result of this discovery and he was returned to the United States after paying a $1,000 vehicle penalty. 

Officers at the Regina International Airport seized a Florida man’s cellphone on April 5. The phone contained suspected child pornography images. He was arrested and turned over to the Regina Police Service for possible further legal action. 

The CBSA teams made 12 seizures of narcotics, drugs or chemicals in April and that included the seizure of 46 pills of suspected dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) a controlled steroid, from a Texas man on April 2. Another action at Northgate saw officers seize 2,248 pills of controlled drugs requiring a prescription, including suspected oxycodone, from a Saskatchewan male resident on April 7. The man indicated he had purchased the drugs in the United States and intended to sell them in Canada. 

At the Regina International Airport on April 13, officers seized 90 pills of suspected steroids from a man who was returning to Saskatchewan. 

At the Oungre border crossing on April 3, officers refused entry to a United States male who had been convicted of aggravated assault and attempted homicide. Another American man was refused entry at North Portal on April 16 because he had been convicted for assault and delivering and manufacturing cocaine. On April 24, officers at the Estevan port refused entry to a U.S. resident with a conviction for aggravated stalking. 

At the Carievale border station on April 2, a couple returning to Saskatchewan failed to declare the motorhome they were driving which they had purchased for $3,250 in the United States. As a result of their action, the motorhome was seized and later returned to the couple after they paid a penalty of nearly $1,800. If they had declared it, they would have paid about $150 as a goods and services tax (GST). 

At North Portal on April 2, officers seized more than 20 kilograms of undeclared cheese from a Saskatchewan man returning from Mexico. He paid a $40 penalty and chose to abandon the cheese rather than pay duty to import it. 

At the Saskatoon International Airport in their commercial operations area on April 5, a Saskatchewan man who was importing a restored vintage car declared its value at $53,500. However, officers determined he had actually purchased the vehicle and restoration parts at a cost of nearly $80,000, which added about $1,300 to the GST bill. As a result of the false declaration, the man paid more than $10,000 for failing to make a truthful declaration.