Border guards have seized handgun and rifle components from a package of “auto parts” destined for Iraq from a Toronto airport, which was found to be in violation of United Nations regulations.
The Canada Border Services Agency said a man who was the subject of an “intelligence look out” was stopped for a secondary examination at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls on Feb. 1, when border guards discovered an airline waybill for a shipment of auto parts to Iraq.
As officials investigated further, they found documents and photos that caused them to suspect gun parts were involved in the shipment, which was located at the Toronto Pearson International Airport air cargo department.
Border guards at the Rainbow Bridge then alerted their CBSA counterparts at the airport, who retrieved the shipment from a warehouse and prevented it from being sent out.
Officials then opened the shipment and found numerous handgun and rifle parts, police badges, badge holders, wallets and tactical jackets — all headed to Iraq.
CBSA said the majority of the shipment was in contravention of the United Nations Iraq Regulations, which prohibits the export of arms and related material to any person in the country.
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The agency said Royal Canadian Mounted Police took custody of the items.
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A CBSA spokeswoman said the seizure was only announced Tuesday because the agency had to wait for confirmation from Global Affairs that the arms were in violation of United Nations Iraq Regulations.
“The interaction at the Rainbow Bridge and then the colleagues at the bridge contacting colleagues at Pearson, that was all very quick,” said Antonella Digirolamo.
“What we do at ports of entry across Canada is we help with the administration of export legislation, but we had to defer to our colleagues at Global Affairs Canada.”
Digirolamo said the man whose interview sparked the seizure was allowed to withdraw his application to enter Canada at the Rainbow Bridge and return to the U.S.
Anyone with information about suspicious cross-border activity is asked to contact the CBSA Border Watch Toll free line at 1-888-502-9060.
With files from The Canadian Press
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