Following our recent post about the TV program “Border Security: Canada’s Front Line”, we thought we’d take a look at the different reasons people get arrested at our border and others.
Viewers of the show may be surprised to see what actions actually do not bring on an arrest. In most cases, not declaring a criminal record, carrying small quantities of narcotics or other minor offences do not result in an arrest. Instead, visitors are usually given the option to withdraw their application to enter Canada and go back home.
So when an arrest is made at the border, it’s usually for a fairly serious matter. But it’s the more unusual cases that get interesting and often humourous. They’re the ones that make you scratch your head and say ‘what were they thinking?’
He Was Walking Very Slowly
The illegal trade in exotic animals is a worldwide problem. Recently, a Canadian returning from the U.S. through a Windsor border crossing brought the problem much closer to home. In a secondary inspection, Kai Xu was found to have 51 live turtles in his pants. A written report stated that Xu “had 41 turtles tapped (sic) to his legs and 10 hidden between his legs.”Xu will be tried in U.S. courts. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in jail. He was released on $10,000 bail to await his trial. All for turtles.Source: CTV News
Go Big or Don’t Go at All
There are numerous arrests for weapons offences at U.S.-Canada land crossings. In many cases, U.S. citizens simply don’t realize that Canadian gun laws are different and, when they don’t declare their weapons, they can be arrested on the spot.But in a reversal of the norm, a Canadian couple was arrested recently at the Rainbow Bridge crossing in Niagara Falls with seven handguns, ammunition enough for a small army, at least one knife, over-capacity ammunition magazines, which are also illegal and, to top it all off, two hand grenades, the discovery of which forced the closure of several lanes of the bridge (though the grenades were found to be inert).Combined with other weapons found in their home, the couple now face 73 firearm-related charges.Source: Owen Sound Times
Some People Get Around
He’s a Serbian basketball player who won Olympic gold for the U.S., a European championship for Greece and was arrested at the Macedonian border driving a car with Bulgarian license plates. In addition to all the international appearances and awards, Dejan Koturiovic also played in the NBA for a number of years with the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns. Why was he arrested? When border guards checked the licenses plates with Interpol, they found that the car was reported stolen.Source: Macedonia Online
Must Be One of the New ‘Drive-Thru’ Border Crossings
Maybe the thinking is that you don’t have to answer any questions if you don’t stop. On September 17, 2014, a vehicle ‘blew threw the border crossing’ at Pigeon River, ON, near Thunder Bay. After the incident, Canadian Border Services Agency officers called the Ontario Provincial Police who used a ‘rolling block’ technique to stop the car without incident a short time later.The driver, from San Antonio, Texas, was arrested. Police didn’t say what charges were laid, but they must have included entering Canada while breaking the speed limit and failing to declare anything at all, not even a hello.Source: CBC.ca
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