Three individuals, two with Canadian citizenship, are facing charges in New York for allegedly trying to smuggle a large number of firearms into Canada, as per an announcement by U.S. authorities on Friday. The suspects, all in their 20s, were apprehended following a traffic stop on State Route 90 in the Finger Lakes region of New York, around 200 kilometers east of Buffalo. Upon searching their vehicle, law enforcement found 89 firearms, including 17 reported stolen, intended for Canada.
According to a joint statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the accused are Malik Bromfield, 22, who is Canadian; Kamal Salman, 22, holding citizenship from Canada, the U.S., and Jordan; and Faizan Ali, 25, a citizen of Pakistan. Bryan DiGirolamo, the ATF’s New York field division special agent in charge, emphasized the threat posed by illegal firearms trafficking to community safety and violent crime.
The trio faces charges including smuggling, unlicensed dealing in firearms, transporting stolen firearms across state lines, and unlawful possession of firearms, with a potential combined maximum sentence of 35 years if convicted on all counts. Bromfield also faces an additional charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by an alien, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years.
In a separate incident, Hamilton police disclosed that Faizan Ali has been evading authorities following a fatal motorcycle accident. Ali was convicted in July 2024 but failed to appear for a court hearing after being granted release before sentencing.
The issue of crime guns originating from the U.S. has been a longstanding concern in Canada. Recent data indicates that a significant portion of firearms seized in relation to criminal activities have ties to the United States. For example, in 2024, 88% of the 717 crime guns confiscated by the Toronto Police Service were traced back to the U.S. The Canada Border Services Agency reported an increase in firearms seized from 581 in 2022 to 839 in 2024.
Jooyoung Lee, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto specializing in gun violence research, highlighted that a large majority of crime guns in Canada originate from U.S. states with less restrictive gun laws. Lee emphasized that the process is not as clandestine as portrayed in movies, with individuals often purchasing firearms legally from stores without facing disqualification during the background check process.