TORONTO: The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) works to ensure our country’s security and prosperity by managing the access of people and goods to and from Canada.
Whether on purpose or by accident, some individuals – Canadians and foreigners alike – attempt to enter Canada illegally, or with items considered illegal.
The CBSA recently released examples of secondquarter highlights from its operations at Regina and Saskatoon International Airports.
According to the agency, the sampling “underscores the CBSA’s commitment to keeping communities safe” and that Canadian laws are abided by.
Upon arriving in Canada, individuals are required to claim currency in excess of $10,000. A 62-year-old U.S. man must not have realized that requirement before passing through customs at the Regina International Airport on June 17.
CBSA officers seized $11,800 in currency, mostly in Canadian funds. Further
examination revealed the man had a stack of bills in his suitcase.
The currency was returned to the man after he was fined $250 – a costly examination.
Other foreigners attempting to enter Canada between April and June were turned away because of convictions that included drug possession, driving under the influence and grand larceny.
While none of the secondquarter examples noted individuals having too much fun with guns, one U.S. resident had 100 millilitres of suspected steroids seized when he landed at the Regina International Airport on May 20. The prescription he had for the contents did not match up – a tough pill to swallow.
However, the next day Regina CBSA officers experienced their own strange encounter of the ocean-kind when a Saskatchewan man attempted to bring back an extra set of teeth from Australia.
The razor-sharp snout of a sawfish rostrum, an endangered freshwater species, was seized and turned over to Environment Canada for investigation.
