Windsor, ON
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has arrested an individual from the community of Cottam, Ontario and charged him with multiple firearm-related offences following an investigation led by the CBSA's Ontario Firearms Smuggling Enforcement Team (OFSET).
OFSET began investigating the subject following a previous firearm investigation by the CBSA that led to charges against another individual from nearby Windsor in September 2025. The subsequent investigation indicated that 60 year old Frank Charette conspired to smuggle firearm parts into Canada from the United States with the goal of manufacturing prohibited weapons. In May 2026, he was intercepted by border services officers at the Ambassador Bridge with unregulated firearm parts from the United States.
In collaboration with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's National Weapons Enforcement Support Team and the Ontario Provincial Police's Emergency Response Team, OFSET executed multiple search warrants in Essex County on July 15, 2026, resulting in the seizure of 53 firearms. This seizure included the following prohibited/restricted items:
- six unlawfully possessed handguns;
- two unregistered sub-machine guns;
- 116 cartridge magazines, 39 of which were over capacity; and
- one auto-sear (a device intended to convert a semi-automatic firearm into an automatic firearm).
Charette was arrested and charged by the CBSA with:
- One count of Smuggling Controlled Goods, s.159(1)/160 Customs Act
- One count of Import Goods Without a Permit, s.14/19 Export and Import Permits Act
- One count of Manufacture a Prohibited Firearm, s.99(1) Criminal Code
- One count of Conspiracy to Manufacture a Firearm, s.465(1)(c)/99(1) Criminal Code
- One count of Knowingly Possess a Prohibited Device, s. 92(2) Criminal Code
- One count of Knowingly Possess a Prohibited Firearm, s. 92(1) Criminal Code
- One count of Storage of a Non-Restricted Firearm Contrary to Regulations, s. 86(2) Criminal Code
- One count of Storage of a Restricted Firearm Contrary to Regulations, s. 86(2) Criminal Code
- One count of Storage of a Prohibited Firearm Contrary to Regulations, s. 86(2) Criminal Code
- One count of Knowingly Possess a Prohibited Firearm, s. 92(2) Criminal Code
He is scheduled to appear at the Windsor courthouse on November 16, 2026.
