The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is pleased to share its key highlights from southern Manitoba in 2014. Among them are the travellers who entered Canada at the 16 land border crossings, including 1,894,486 travellers and 1,031,085 cars and trucks.
Officers in southern Manitoba seized 25 undeclared firearms in 2014, including 11 prohibited firearms. The majority of the seizures occurred in summer with more U.S. visitors crossing the border. In July, a Florida man spent three days in jail and received a $13,000 fine for smuggling a prohibited and fully loaded .22 calibre revolver. In October, one man was sentenced to 21 days in jail and a $4,000 fine for concealing a 9mm handgun and 10 undeclared prohibited overcapacity magazines in his vehicle. A second man was sentenced to 12 days in jail and a $9,000 fine for attempting to smuggle a prohibited loaded .45 calibre handgun along with 11 undeclared magazines. Both men were from North Carolina.
Detector Dog Marley kick-started 2014 when he helped officers intercept over 1.5 kilos of marijuana from an Ontario woman in February at Emerson, and in the interception of smaller amounts of other drugs throughout the year including hash oil and cocaine. Marley also helped officers locate multiple firearms in 2014, including two prohibited firearms from a North Carolina man, who was sentenced to three days in jail and a $8,975 penalty.
In September, officers at the Lena border crossing in southwest Manitoba arrested a 33-year-old North Dakota man found hiding under a blanket in the rear of a vehicle. The man had been denied entry into Canada the previous day for having a criminal record. The CBSA laid charges against the man under the Customs Act and he was sentenced to 60 days in jail.
Additional facts for Southern Manitoba border crossings in 2014:
- Officers completed 1,942 permanent resident landings, and issued 1,236 work permits and 124 study permits.
- A total of 1,273 foreign nationals were refused entry for criminality or other reasons in southern Manitoba.
- There were six arrests for impaired driving and 28 on outstanding warrants.
- A total of 1,072,504 commercial shipments, including courier and cargo, were cleared in southern Manitoba, the majority at Emerson, Manitoba’s largest port of entry.
