Guns stashed in DVD players
This DVD player had the potential to kill and maim.
Police announced yesterday they have dismantled a major gun-running operation that used unique methods to smuggle dozens of handguns from the United States into southern Ontario, including hiding them in DVD players like the one displayed at a news conference at Peel police headquarters.
A 29-year-old American living in Toronto faces numerous charges relating to gun trafficking and stands accused of masterminding the operation.
Police provided few details but the seizure and arrest appear to be part of a major push at the border to intercept gun smugglers.
The increased attention is at least in part the result of post-9/11 measures that have enhanced security and entry-point searches at the border. (More than 5,500 guns have been seized since 2001, said Patrizia Giolti, of the Canada Border Services Agency.)
Investigators agree the border crackdown may be a factor in several high-profile break-ins at the homes of Ontario gun collectors — from which dozens of weapons remain missing — but they don't have statistics yet to indicate where the trend in illegal gun running is headed.
Yesterday's announcement also comes on the heels of a year with a record 52 gun deaths in Toronto.
Police said they arrested a man who was found with a loaded .45 calibre semi-automatic handgun that he was attempting to sell.
That followed a two-year undercover investigation, dubbed Operation Bluegrass, which revealed that at least 85 guns were purchased in Kentucky and Ohio over the past two years for importation into Ontario. It's believed the operation was about to expand into illegally manufacturing guns on this side of the border.
"These guns were being used to commit violent crimes across southern Ontario, including attempted murders, home invasions and a jewellery store robbery in London, Ont., where in fact shots were fired at police," Det. Insp. Steve Clegg, of the provincial weapons enforcement unit, told reporters.
The Bluegrass dragnet has removed 37 "crime guns" from the streets, including a machine-gun pistol equipped with a silencer, gun parts, and a drill press used to eradicate the serial numbers, police said.
But at least 48 other handguns may have escaped police detection and reached the hands of criminals.
Efforts to retrieve them are continuing and more arrests are expected, police said.
Riccardo Tolliver, 29, faces 10 counts of firearms-related offences, including conspiracy to import and traffic in firearms. He is to appear in court this morning for a bail hearing.
Sonita Langford, 24, of Toronto, and Sandip Gosh, 25, of no fixed address, are also charged in connection with the gun operation.
Along with an array of guns and related equipment displayed yesterday, police showed off a DVD player that contained three semi-automatic pistols and clips stashed inside the case. They said the equipment was transported across the border by a courier service, but wouldn't say where or give any other details.
Operation Bluegrass began in 2004 with a gun seizure in Peel and quickly grew into a binational task force involving detectives from Peel, Toronto, the Ontario Provincial Police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
"There is no guarantee where those guns will end up," said Staff Insp. Joe Tomei, of the organized-crime enforcement unit, when asked where guns go after they enter the country.
Of the 37 guns recovered so far, 15 were found in the GTA.
The U.S. government considers cross-border gun smuggling a major priority, and that's why Special Agent Regina Lombardo of the U.S. bureau, — who is attached to the U.S. Consulate in Toronto — has been assigned to work with Canadian police since August.The assembled police officials were reluctant to release many details of the operation saying the investigation is still continuing and more arrests are anticipated.
Questioned as to the ratio of smuggled versus stolen guns circulating in the criminal trade, Clegg said the 50/50 breakdown widely reported in the media can't be confirmed easily.
Detectives across the GTA have been busy over recent weeks trying to track down more than 85 handguns stolen from area collectors.
Six of 40 handguns taken less than two weeks ago from the home of Ken Foster, 67, have been recovered — two from suspects arrested in Toronto and four after Durham police raided an Oshawa home and took two young suspects into custody.
Police have not found any of about 45 handguns stolen last Friday from the apartment of Gary Gordaneer in Mississauga.
Source: The Toronto Star
--
Posted by DiscBurn, a leader in DVD duplication, replication,
VHS to DVD transfers, and
disc equipment.
<< Newsletters