Border service officials seize arms export bound for Iraq at Toronto airport
Posted May 31, 2016 1:56 pm.
Last Updated May 31, 2016 1:58 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – Border officials say they’ve seized a cache of gun parts and police equipment at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport that was destined for Iraq.
The Canada Border Services Agency says the discovery of the arms stemmed from an incident in February, when officers at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing in Niagara Falls, Ont., identified a man who was the subject of “an intelligence lookout.”
During an interview with the man, officers discovered an airline waybill indicating an export of auto parts to Iraq.
The CBSA says further investigation revealed documentation and photos that caused officers to suspect gun parts were in fact involved in the export shipment, which was located at the Toronto airport’s cargo facility.
Officers at the Rainbow Bridge immediately contacted their counterparts at the Toronto airport, who tracked down the shipment at a cargo services warehouse.
A CBSA spokeswoman said the seizure was only announced today because the agency had to wait for confirmation from Global Affairs that the arms were in violation of United Nations Iraq Regulations.
