December 17, 2025 Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada Border Services Agency
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is committed to protecting Canadians by keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of criminals and away from our communities.
On October 7, 2025, Mark Sobry, a 47-year old resident of Kelwood, Manitoba, pleaded guilty in Minnedosa Provincial Court to smuggling prohibited weapons into Canada. He was convicted of the following two charges:
- Smuggling prohibited weapons into Canada, contrary to section 159(1) of the Customs Act
- Importing prohibited weapons, contrary to section 104(1)(a) of the Criminal Code
On December 16, Sobry received a 20-month conditional sentence along with a 10-year weapons prohibition and ordered to provide a DNA sample.
In the summer of 2024, the CBSA Manitoba Integrated Firearm Enforcement Team (IFET) began their investigation into Sobry after CBSA officers at the Vancouver and Mississauga international mail centres intercepted two separate shipments containing prohibited stun guns. In September 2024, CBSA IFET officers, with the assistance of the RCMP Emergency Response Team, executed a search at Sobry's property in Kelwood that resulted in the seizure of:
- 1 stun gun
- 7 prohibited shuriken throwing knives, also known as throwing stars or ninja stars, and
- 10 non-restricted long rifles with several rounds of ammunition and re-loading supplies
The weapons seized during the search were in breach of a court imposed condition that he could not possess any prohibited weapons.
