Three men were found carrying 89 firearms meant for smuggling to Canada from the US.
The US authorities stopped a cross-border smuggling bid as New York State Police troopers stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation near State Route 90, on May 7. Upon inspection, a large cache of firearms, mostly stolen, was found and neither of the three occupants had any license for arms dealing. Malik Bromfield, Faizan Ali and Kamal Salman were arrested and charged with multiple offenses related to the transportation of 89 firearms, including at least 17 that were reported stolen, and attempting to smuggle those firearms to Canada.According to the court document, all of them are in their 20s and Bromfield and Salman, both 22, are Canadian citizens, while 25-year-old Ali is a Pakistani. Each was charged with one count of smuggling from the United States, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; one count of unlicensed dealing in firearms, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of transporting stolen firearms in interstate commerce, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; and one count of unlawful possession of firearms, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.“As alleged, Malik Bromfield, Faizan Ali, and Kamal Salman were caught transporting more than 80 guns, including short-barreled rifles and stolen firearms, to smuggle them out of the country,” US attorney Jay Clayton said. “It is critically important to New Yorkers and Americans to keep illegal weapons out of the hands of criminal actors. The trafficking of dangerous weapons will be relentlessly pursued by this Office.”FBI Special Agent Brian Jennings said apart from the cache of arms, the troopers also found approximately $3,000 in $100 bills in the glovebox.“The quantity and variety of firearms … is wholly inconsistent with possession of firearms for personal use and instead consistent with the transport and trafficking of firearms for sale and distribution,” said Jennings.During the search, all three of them gave inconsistent and evasive accounts. Ali consented to a physical search and an expired Pakistani driving license issued to an Afghan national.Jennings said that the three were heading to an address near Hammond, New York, which is immediately across the St Lawrence River from Ontario, Canada. The vehicle was spotted northbound on the I-95 in Jupiter, Florida, the previous day.
