Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officials at the North Portal port of entry were pleased to see their efforts at preventing sexual exploitation of children were paying off this past month with the completion of some court cases that focused on those matters.
On Nov. 25, Roger Mead pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and received a one-year sentence, as reported in The Mercury. Mead had been arrested at the North Portal port on Oct 20 when CBSA officers seized more than 4,000 illegal images that had been in his possession.
North Portal officers also encountered three more cases involving the sexual exploitation of children on Nov. 6, 8 and 9. Two men have been charged for possession of and/or importation of child pornography and will be appearing in court at a future date while one male was released and not charged.
In other border-related incidents, CBSA officials noted that on Nov. 2 a man expecting to come to Saskatchewan for hunting was denied entry after it was revealed he had three convictions for assault causing bodily harm.
On Nov. 3, a woman from Delaware told officers she was entering Canada to visit a friend in Edmonton for three months. CBSA officials noted that it appeared as if she was carrying most of her possessions so they asked further questions regarding schools and employment. These were questions she was unable to answer properly and had changed the stories numerous times. She then stated she was on vacation from work.
The woman was subsequently handed a removal order for being a non-genuine visitor. When she was made aware of her situation and the pending return to the United States, the woman indicated she had no money for gas nor anywhere to go. She did depart, only to return two days later with a different story that, was again, filled with untruths and deception, so she was denied entry again and advised she could not return for another attempt at entering Canada for at least one year.
On Nov. 4, a 24-year-old South Dakota resident informed officers he was entering Canada to visit a friend for 10 days. During the examination CBSA officers discovered the man was actually attempting to enter Canada to work in Estevan for three to six weeks. Due to the deception, he was issued a removal order and barred from entering Canada for one year and officers escorted him back to the American side of the border.
On the court-side of issues, CBSA officers made note of the fact that on Nov. 6, Joel David Pennington Jr. was convicted of smuggling firearms into Canada and was sentenced to time already served in custody.
A 33-year-old traveller was flagged by customs officers on Nov. 10 for further examination since he had undergone seizure of goods on a previous occasion. This time officers found prohibited pepper spray in the vehicle, and he admitted that he knew it was a prohibited substance for importation so was penalized $500.
A commercial truck driver was denied entry into Canada on Nov. 11 due to a previous theft conviction. The next day a pilot driver for a commercial oversized load was refused entry since he had two impaired driving convictions as well as three assault convictions.
On Nov. 24, CBSA officers denied another commercial driver entry when they learned the 58-year-old man had been convicted of sexual assault, aggravated assault with a weapon and an impaired driving charge, among other things.
On Nov. 18, CBSA officers processed the importation paperwork for a 2014 model trailer that had been delivered to North Dakota. Despite being given numerous opportunities to do so, the man involved failed to declare the $2,100 shipping fee, which had to be included in the final declared price of the product. The importer therefore paid an $880 penalty as opposed to a regular GST payment that would have been $105.
At the Estevan Highway port of entry in November, males attempting to enter Canada for a variety of reasons were denied entry on Nov. 3, 10 and 14.
The Nov. 3 incident involved a 58-year-old North Dakotan who wanted to pay a short visit to Estevan. He was on probation for an assault causing bodily harm conviction, so he was refused entry as were two men on Nov. 10 due to previous criminal records. They too had been expecting to go to Estevan for a short visit. The Nov. 14 potential visitor was a 32-year-old Florida man who was also heading to Estevan for a day until CBSA officers discovered he had multiple impaired driving convictions as well as a record for smuggling 30 kilograms of marijuana into the U.S. from Mexico.
On Nov. 22, a man entering Canada undervalued more than $2,000 in auto parts and border officials at the Estevan Highway port raised doubts about the receipts that were offered since they were handwritten and scribbled. The man eventually admitted the receipts had been altered before his declaration and the items in the parcel had been undervalued. He was penalized $500, which was substantially more than the $200 he would have paid with a truthful declaration of value.
On Nov. 26, two relatively naïve Oklahoma men stated they were coming into Estevan to look for work. Neither of them had proper identification to enter Canada and neither was in possession of a valid driver's licence. They were both unaware that they required permits to work in Canada. The driver eventually admitted to having been convicted of eluding an officer of the law, trespassing, driving while his licence was suspended (four times) and breaking and entering. Further background checks also showed he had been convicted of resisting arrest, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, possession of a controlled substance and failure to pay fines.
The passenger, in the meantime, displayed signs of being under the influence of narcotics while at the port, and he admitted to having been convicted numerous times for drug possession, failing to appear in court and having pending impaired driving charges laid against him. The background check showed he had been charged more than 25 times for these offences in the past two years in a number of states.
Both men were refused entry into Canada.
At the Oungre port of entry crossing, nine people were denied entry, six of whom were for criminal records.
On Nov. 3, a 25-year-old resident from Colorado who was trying to enter Canada for a day, admitted to being convicted of assault causing bodily injury, participating in a riot and the reckless discharge of a firearm. He too, was refused entry.
On Nov. 30, a husband and wife arrived at the Oungre port and declared $1,600 in goods but indicated to the CBSA officer there were additional invoices in the back seat of the vehicle. Since there were no other vehicles in the queue, the officer allowed them additional time to re-add their receipts to provide an accurate declaration. The second accounting led them to declare $2,180 in goods along with some cigarettes and alcohol.
A routine search then ensued and the CBSA official uncovered another bag and receipts for goods valued at $520 that had not been declared. Further searching uncovered more receipts in various bags totaling more than $1,770 in undeclared electronic equipment, clothing, shoes and household items. The couple was ultimately fined $410 for false declarations as opposed to the $175 in GST they would have paid if they had gone about the business truthfully.
Anyone with information regarding suspicious cross-border activity is encouraged to contact the CBSA Border Watch team toll-free at 1-888-502-9060. For general information regarding CBSA contact the Border Information Service at 1-800-461-9999.
