The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) released information this past week regarding some of their activities at international border crossings in the southern part of the province during the month of November.
A restricted .45 calibre pistol was seized by officers at the North Portal border port on Nov. 13. It was the ninth undeclared handgun confiscated by CBSA officers this year. The gun was located during a search of a commercial vehicle. Charges are pending against a 44-year-old Alabama man who has a Jan. 9 court appearance date in Estevan.
Earlier in the month, officers searched a commercial vehicle and found a prohibited butterfly knife inside some pants in the sleeping area of the truck. The male driver from Manitoba was detained for smuggling and paid a $500 penalty for failing to declare the item following his release.
On Nov. 25 border officers uncovered a set of brass knuckles and a switchblade in the cab of a commercial truck. Both of those prohibited items were seized and the male driver from Kentucky was returned to the United States.
On the last day of November, officers at the Regway border crossing searched the vehicle belonging to an Alberta man who was returning to Canada and found a prohibited knife and stun gun in addition to undeclared tobacco products and a pipe with suspected methamphetamine residue. The traveller was allowed to continue into Canada, but without the mentioned items. He also paid a $500 penalty for failing to declare them.
Front-line CBSA officers are responsible for enforcing outstanding warrants and intercepting people who are wanted in Canada. In accordance with these directives, CBSA officers arrested a Saskatchewan man at the Saskatoon International Airport on Nov. 8 since he was wanted on a warrant for assault. He was transferred into police custody.
On Nov. 15 at the Regway border station, officers arrested another Saskatchewan male who was wanted on an impaired driving charge and for failing to appear in court on an assigned date. He was turned over to the RCMP for further processing.
At the Carievale border crossing on Nov. 21, officers arrested a Saskatchewan woman who was facing harassment charges and was wanted for a breach of recognizance. She, too, was turned over to the RCMP for further action.
While CBSA officers were examining a trailer bound for Alaska on Nov. 17 at the North Portal crossing, they uncovered a variety of live animals that had not been declared in total. The trailer contained 40 cats, three birds and one goat and many of these animals and birds lacked proper import permits or vaccination certificates. The female owner, a resident of the U.S., was turned back by the border officers.
On Nov. 5, a U.S. resident bound for Alaska was refused entry due to multiple convictions including vehicular manslaughter and grand theft. He then made another attempt to enter Canada through the Torquay area border station later that day and was again turned back south.
A man from Tennessee was refused entry on Nov. 10 since he had been convicted of using a government computer to view child pornography.
On Nov. 16, officers turned an American commercial truck driver back to the U.S. since he had been convicted multiple times for several offences including battery, arson and impaired driving.
Officers at the North Portal port, the largest land border crossing in the province, welcomed 19,000 travellers to Canada in November while refusing entry to 39 foreign nationals for various reasons, including criminality.
CBSA reminds Canadians picking up parcels in the United States during this busy season to know the contents and their value before re-entering Canada. If returning with gifts, ensure the gifts are unwrapped when crossing the border since a CBSA officer may need to open the package to verify the declaration.
