A Nanaimo man has been charged with firearm and drug-possession offences in connection with a Canada Border Services Agency seizure in 2022 of three “firearm suppressors,” or silencers, at Vancouver International Airport.
The seizure led to a CBSA investigation that resulted in search warrants being executed in May 2023 on a residence and two vehicles in Nanaimo, with assistance from the Vancouver Island District RCMP Emergency Response Team.
Located in the searches were two loaded, prohibited nine-millimetre ghost guns, a loaded, prohibited shotgun, a nine-mm restricted rifle with readily accessible ammunition and suppressor, two non-restricted rifles, nine over-capacity magazines, 119 grams of methamphetamine, 335 grams of cocaine, 15 grams of MDMA, 10 grams of psilocybin and 22 electronic devices, the border agency said.
Ghost guns are untraceable firearms made with 3D printers.
Cody Edward Ranger was charged May 15 with three counts of drug possession for the purpose of trafficking, three counts of unauthorized possession of a loaded prohibited firearm, one count of unauthorized possession of a restricted firearm with ammunition and two counts of possession of a prohibited device.
He is currently in custody.
“The Canada Border Services Agency is committed to keeping prohibited firearms and firearm parts out of our country and protecting our communities,” said Nina Patel, regional director general for the CBSA in the Pacific Region “We continue to investigate those who attempt to bring these items into Canada and work alongside our policing partners to hold them accountable.”
Anyone with information about suspicious cross-border activity is asked to contact the CBSA Border Watch Line toll-free at 1-888-502-9060.
