A Quebec man is facing a raft of charges after the RCMP allegedly found enough parts to build 249 working illegal handguns in hockey bags near the border with New York state last week.
The RCMP says that on March 5, its officers pulled over a pickup truck and trailer northwest of Quebec’s Trout River Border crossing, approximately 30 kilometres due east of Cornwall, Ont.
“A search of the vehicle interior and trailer found five hockey bags containing a large number of disassembled firearms parts,” officers said Tuesday.
The parts were enough to make 249 Polymer P80 handguns, which vaguely resemble the popular Glock semi-automatic handgun, along with overcapacity 15-round magazines for each.
The handguns were manufactured by a company in New York State that says its products are meant to “provide ways for our customer to participate in the build process, while expressing their right to bear arms.”
Their retail value in the United States was at least $137,000, but would likely retail for many times that amount on the black market in Canada.
The RCMP identified the suspect as 24-year-old William Rainville of Sherbrooke, Que.
His vehicle, cell phone and laptop were also seized by police.
He faces charges including importing restricted firearms, possession of prohibited devices and possession of firearms for the purpose of trafficking.
The seizure is the latest in a sustained flow of illegal firearms being brought over the U.S. border.
Customs officials in Ontario have repeatedly seized handguns sealed and submerged in the fuel tanks of rental cars.
They have also found people manufacturing working copies of brand-name pistols in their garages.
