Northern border smuggling, trafficking task force formed

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) personnel have formed a task to address the illegal movement of firearms, ammunition, and explosives across the border.

The initiative serves as another step forward to disrupting and dismantling the violations, ensuring law enforcement partners benefit from shared intelligence and information as a means of detecting and intercepting the firearms at the border while ensuring the legal movement of goods and services remains uninterrupted.

“As the primary federal law enforcement agency responsible for investigating international smuggling operations, we have full confidence in our ability to identify and prosecute criminal networks and individuals attempting to break these laws,” HSI Ottawa Attaché Michael Buckley said. “Through our strong partnership with Canada and our partnering law enforcement agencies, we will work to prevent the illegal export weapons and ensure they do not end up on the streets where they can be used to commit acts of violence.”

HSI is the primary federal law enforcement agency responsible for investigating international smuggling operations and enforcing domestic export laws. The investigative strategy includes identification and prosecution of criminal networks and individuals responsible for the acquisition and movement of firearms and other dangerous weapons from the United States.

The U.S. and Canada partnering agencies include HSI, CBSA, the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Public Safety Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and various U.S. and Canadian police forces.