2017 border highlights from Saskatchewan

December 28, 2017     Regina, Saskatchewan     Canada Border Services Agency

As 2017 draws to a close, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is highlighting top stories from its operations in Saskatchewan.

Firearms enforcement

• CBSA officers in Saskatchewan seized more than 25 undeclared firearms. Two thirds of the firearms were handguns.
• On March 14 at North Portal, officers seized two semi-automatic rifles, an additional two lower receivers, one non-restricted rifle, 18 overcapacity magazines, and 110 rounds of prohibited ammunition. An Alaska-bound traveller was arrested and issued a $5,000 penalty.
• On June 16, officers at Coronach seized a loaded handgun from a suspected impaired driver. The Montana resident was arrested and turned over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). He paid a $1,000 penalty for failing to declare the gun, and was ultimately denied entry for committing offences.

Disrupting the flow of illicit drugs

• Officers made more than 80 drug seizures.
• On December 3, officers at Regway intercepted a commercial vehicle that contained 694 grams of suspected doda, a powdered opiate made from crushed opium poppy pods. They arrested the driver, who was then charged by the RCMP.
• Last summer, the CBSA began an investigation into possible illegal importations of suspected fentanyl derivatives into Saskatchewan. As a result, on November 7, a man was arrested in Warman by the CBSA and Warman RCMP. He has since been charged.

Protecting Canadians

• On March 31, officers conducted an examination on a traveller at the North Portal border crossing which resulted in the discovery of suspected child pornography on electronic devices. The man was arrested and turned over to the Saskatchewan Internet Child Exploitation Unit.
• On April 19, the CBSA and RCMP announced the results of Project FADDUCE, a joint investigation into organized human smuggling in southeastern Saskatchewan.
• On August 6, officers at Regway deemed two registered sex offenders inadmissible to Canada and allowed them to return to the United States. Their convictions included aggravated sexual assault of a child and rape of a child under 12.