A number of incidents that resulted in confiscation of various items, were reported by the Canada Border Security Agency (CBSA) during the month of June.
The agency said in a recent release that on June 16, officers in Saskatoon examining international commercial shipments in a sufferance warehouse, uncovered 147 litres of undeclared alcohol inside a container, in addition to other undeclared products including wood, meat and medication. The undeclared goods were seized and penalties are pending against the importer.
On June 11 at the North Portal border crossing, officers examined a bus and found an undeclared .38-calibre revolver locked in a safe. The male driver, from Pennsylvania, paid a $1,000 penalty for failing to declare the weapon and was returned to the United States for previous criminality.
On June 20, officers searched a Pennsylvania man’s motorhome and seized an undeclared prohibited 9-mm handgun from a cupboard above the driver’s seat, and a restricted .45-calibre handgun from the bedroom closet. The man paid a $2,000 penalty for failing to declare the guns and was refused entry due to previous criminal records.
Other travellers were denied access to Canada for a variety of reasons during the previous month. One such incident occurred at North Portal when a woman from the U.S. was denied entry due to the fact she had been convicted of assault and manslaughter, while a U.S. male was denied entry having been convicted of armed robbery and criminal confinement.
At the Oungre border crossing, officers sent an American man back into the U.S. since he had been charged with impaired driving less than a month earlier, while officers at the Regway crossing refused entry to a man who was facing charges in the United States for Internet sexual exploitation of a child.
At the remote Northgate border crossing on June 19, officers examined a motorcycle being driven by a male from Colorado. The CBSA agents uncovered a variety of suspected drugs in the saddlebag including 490 grams of marijuana brownies, 250 grams of marijuana candy, 53 grams of marijuana mints and 24 grams of psilocybin mushrooms. The man paid a penalty in excess of $3,500 for failing to declare the items and was returned to the United States for committing an offence upon entering Canada. CBSA officers also reported they seized a prohibited switchblade knife, which was found in the man’s jacket.
At the Monchy border crossing on June 10, officers seized 54 pills of suspected oxycodone from a Montana woman during a vehicle examination. She was allowed to continue into Canada without the drugs and after paying a $550 penalty for failing to declare them.
There were other incidents that officers made note of at the North Portal crossing (Saskatchewan’s busiest land port-of-entry) during the previous month.
On June 13, officers processing a returning Saskatchewan man, determined he had failed to declare nearly $20,000 in auto parts. He was penalized approximately $12,000. Had he made a proper declaration, he would have bee responsible for paying only $1,000 in the form of a goods and services tax.
On June 18, officers seized seven, 30-round overcapacity magazines from totes inside a trailer bound for Alaska. Officers determined the driver did not intend to smuggle these products and allowed him to continue his trip through Canada, but without the prohibited items.
That same day, a returning Saskatchewan male resident, declared a horse at about $1,300, but officers uncovered the fact he had actually paid close to $4,200 for the animal and had requested that the seller provide a false bill of sale. The Saskatchewan man paid a penalty of $1,600 for failing to declare the proper value. If he had filed a truthful declaration, he would have paid $210 in taxes.
