Border agents seize more than a hundred knives in N.S. weapon smuggling probe
Over two years, border agents had seized 26 prohibited knives destined for the same address in Lower Sackville.
The packages seized at international mail processing centres between April 2021 and this spring – all addressed to the same man – piqued the curiosity of criminal investigators with the Canada Border Services Agency.
When the agency’s Barry Marchand queried Joseph Eric McDougall’s history with Canada Post, he was concerned to learn the 53-year-old Ridgeview Drive man had received 214 parcels in the mail since April of 2021.
“Five of the 214 imports were prohibited weapons that were properly declared by the exporter and were successfully imported to Joseph McDougall from the United States,” Marchand said in an application for a search warrant in the case.
“The knives were declared as: two switchblades, classic stiletto style knife, tactical spring-assisted knife and nine new Italian Milano stilettos. These knives were not intercepted.”
Some labelled kitchenware
Nearly 50 of the imports delivered to McDougall over the two-year span bore descriptions similar to packages addressed to him that had been seized before, including kitchenware, wrench tools and outdoor tools.
“Eleven were directly from exporters that had prohibited weapons seized destined to Joseph McDougall previously, and were not intercepted by the CBSA,” Marchand said in an information to obtain a warrant filed at Dartmouth provincial court.
Thirty of them were declared as knives.
“It is unclear from the description if these knives are prohibited weapons,” said the investigator.
The agency sent the seven most recently seized packages to Halifax for examination. Six of them contained single knives and one held two.
Investigation focus
Mounties determined the knives were all prohibited weapons in Canada.
“These eight prohibited weapons are the focus of this investigation,” Marchand said.
When investigators ran McDougall’s name through a police database, they learned he had been charged “regarding serious threats of violence made to a Nova Scotia Workers Compensation employee in 2019.”
Investigators also found a 2016 CBC article where McDougall was complaining about not being able to access a nearby lake with his disabled daughter due to a locked gate. In that piece, they note, McDougall said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and several anxiety disorders.
McDougall mirrored those comments about his mental problems in a 2015 court case where he unsuccessfully challenged the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission’s decision to dismiss his complaint alleging discrimination on the basis of mental disability.
His beef involved a Lower Sackville lounge owner’s decision not to allow him to smoke cannabis, which he had a medical prescription for, inside Terri’s Place in the fall of 2013.
Aggravating factors
Marchand argued aggravating factors in the knife smuggling case include “McDougall’s ongoing disregard for border legislation,” the number of prohibited weapons he’s tried to bring into the country and his “self-described” mental troubles.
“These points relate directly to the CBSA’s public safety mandate,” Marchand said in his May 23 warrant application.
The Crown offered no evidence in the WCB threat case when it came to Halifax provincial court for trial on Wednesday. The judge dismissed the charge.
Earlier this spring, border agents wanted to learn more about McDougall, so over nine days in the middle of April, they “performed intermittent lifestyle surveillance” on his home.
They saw his spouse taking out the garbage and collecting parcels that had been delivered to the home. McDougall’s white Ford F-150 truck was always parked in their driveway, but border agents never spotted him.
“A number of additional drive-bys were conducted by the investigative team after the completion of the surveillance operation,” Marchand said. “Each time, McDougall was not seen.”
They concluded he didn’t get out of the house much.
‘Garbage grab’
Then on April 27, investigators conducted a “garbage grab” to sift through whatever McDougall and his family were throwing out. They found a courier box inside addressed to him that had come from Canada Grows Supplies in Quebec.
By this point, Marchand believed McDougall was buying illegal weapons and smuggling them into Canada, likely for resale.
“These shipments were coming in from China, United States and the Netherlands by international mail or courier,” said the investigator.
“I believe that he attempted to acquire these prohibited weapons from outside Canada and that he used his personal electronic devices to order them.”
‘Opens automatically’
Specifically, Marchand was looking for any “knife that has a blade that opens automatically by gravity or centrifugal force or by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in or attached to the handle of the knife.”
He wanted a warrant to search McDougall’s home and electronic devices looking for evidence.
“In this case it is believed that Joseph McDougall attempted to import a minimum of 27 prohibited weapons, and likely many more,” Marchand said.
A judge granted his warrant and on May 25, the CBSA seized 131 knives from McDougall’s home. Those included switchblades, push daggers and spring-assisted knives.
Border agents also seized spring batons, a throwing star, spring-assisted dart guns, stun guns, brass knuckles, pepper spray, computer gear and mobile phones from the home.
McDougall is slated to be arraigned Sept. 25 on charges of possessing prohibited weapons, smuggling and violating the Customs Act.
