2 Canadians among suspects indicted in US for trying to smuggle guns into Canada
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US authorities announced on Friday that three men – two of them Canadian citizens – have been charged in New York state for allegedly trying to smuggle a large number of firearms into Canada.
A joint statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the FBI and the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said three men in their 20s were arrested following a traffic stop on Thursday while traveling on State Route 90, in the Finger Lakes region of New York, about 200 kilometers east of Buffalo.
The statement said that when their car was searched, 89 guns were found, including 17 that were reportedly stolen, headed for Canada.
“Illegal firearms trafficking threatens the safety of our communities and fuels violent crime,” said Bryan DiGirolamo, special agent in charge of the ATF’s New York division.
The statement said one suspect, 22, is a Canadian citizen, while the other, 22, has Canadian, US and Jordanian citizenship. The third suspect, 25, is a citizen of Pakistan.
Donald Trump has targeted Canada with punitive tariffs over border security concerns. But as CBC’s Talia Ricci reports, information from GTA police shows Canada should be concerned about what’s coming from the US, too.
All three men were charged with one count each of trafficking; selling firearms without a license; transporting stolen firearms in interstate commerce; and illegal possession of firearms. In total, the maximum sentence an individual can receive if convicted of all charges is 35 years in prison.
A suspect with only Canadian citizenship was charged with illegal possession of a firearm by a foreigner, and sentenced to 15 years.
The ‘majority’ of crime guns in Canada come from the US
In Canada, gun crime from the US has long been a problem.
For example, 88 percent of the 717 crime guns seized by the Toronto Police Department in 2024 were traced to the United States.
In 2022, the Canada Border Services Agency seized 581 firearms entering Canada from the U.S. That number dropped to 839 in 2024, according to the agency’s data.
Jooyoung Lee, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto who studies the causes and long-term effects of gun violence, previously told CBC News that “a lot of gun crime in Canada” comes from US states that have “lax and lax laws.”
“There’s not really this underground network that we see in Hollywood movies where high-end buyers go back to the underground market,” Lee said.
“In fact, some people go into stores if they don’t qualify at the time of purchase and pass the website, get a gun and leave that day.”
