RCMP Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET) was notified by the United States Border Patrol (USBP) that a person illegally crossed into Saskatchewan from Montana in a remote area south of Val Marie. The person then re-entered the United States illegally in the same location soon after and drove away in a truck. The vehicle was stopped by USBP officers and two men were arrested.
RCMP officers then searched the area where the crossing occurred and located a box containing a pistol that is prohibited in Canada. Their investigation determined the two men who are Canadian citizens – entered the United States legally in early January at a designated port of entry. They’re not being charged in the U.S. at this point and were arrested by RCMP January 7th.
The investigation led to the execution of a search warrant at a home on 9th Avenue North in Saskatoon last Wednesday where officers then called in the RCMP’s Explosives Disposal Unit and RCMP and Saskatoon Police Service’s Clandestine Lab experts after finding quantities of chemicals and compounds in several different locations. Materials were seized and sent to Health Canada for further analysis. Also seized from the North Park home were four firearms, two of which are prohibited in Canada, and approximately 500 rounds of ammunition.
Nineteen-year-old Nathaniel Rose of Calgary, Alberta and 19-year-old Arya Payendefar of Saskatoon are both charged with one count each possession of a firearm without a license, possession of prohibited devices without a license, unauthorized import a firearm into Canada, and smuggle into Canada, clandestinely, a firearm, the importation of which is prohibited, controlled or regulated.
The investigation is ongoing and RCMP say additional charges may result. Assisting the RCMP’s Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET), RCMP Federal Policing, Northwest Region, with this investigation is Ponteix RCMP Detachment, Saskatchewan RCMP Explosive Disposal Unit and Saskatchewan RCMP and Saskatoon Police Service’s Clandestine Lab teams, Canadian Border Services Agency and United States Border Patrol.
