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A 34-year-old Toronto man is accused of smuggling firearms into Canada through the mail.

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The Canada Border Services Agency says the arrest of the accused was made as part of an investigation led by the Ontario Firearms Smuggling Team, a group of criminal investigators , intelligence analysts and CBSA intelligence officers dedicated to investigating firearms smuggling across the province.

“In August 2024, border services officers working at the International Mail Processing Center in Mississauga, Ontario, intercepted a package addressed to a residence in Toronto,” the CBSA said in a statement Wednesday. “Officers seized the contents of the package, including three prohibited semi-automatic handguns, five magazines and twelve rounds of ammunition.”

The CBSA said its investigators, assisted by the Toronto Police Emergency Task Force, executed a search warrant at a Toronto residence in late August.

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Nicholas Douglas, of Toronto, was arrested.

He is charged with three counts of smuggling a prohibited instrument under the Customs Act and offenses under the Criminal Code, including three counts of knowingly importing prohibited goods, one count of one count of conspiring with one or more persons unknown to commit an indictable offense consisting of importing a prohibited product or restricted firearm and one count of knowingly transferring a prohibited firearm.

“The CBSA Ontario Anti-Firearms Smuggling Team is committed to detecting, investigating and disrupting organized crime,” said Abeid Morgan, Acting Director of the Intelligence Operations Division and CBSA Enforcement Directorate in Southern Ontario, in the release. “This investigation, arrest and charges demonstrate our strong role and partnerships in finding and seizing prohibited firearms.

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Anyone with information regarding suspicious cross-border activity, including firearms smuggling, is asked to call the CBSA Border Watch Line toll-free at 1-888-502-9060.

“The safety and security of Canadians is our top priority,” Canada’s Minister of Public Safety, Dominic LeBlanc, said in the release. “We are proud of the work of the Canada Border Services Agency to investigate those who break Canadian laws and protect our communities from prohibited firearms.

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