A major with the Royal Canadian Air Force faces a long list of charges after border officers seized more than a dozen prohibited firearms and allegedly found undeclared guns “hidden” among his belongings when they were shipped back to Canada.
Maj. Kendrick Barling returned to the country in August after being posted in the U.S. for five years, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) wrote in a news release.
His household goods were shipped through Canadian Forces Base Trenton where “numerous undeclared firearms were discovered hidden throughout the shipment,” it reads.
Investigators with the CBSA’s Ontario firearms smuggling enforcement team then searched a home in Kingston and another in Petawawa in October where they said they uncovered:
- Two shotguns.
- Seven handguns.
- 10 rifles (including assault rifles).
- Roughly 45,000 rounds of ammunition of various calibres.
- Hundreds of magazines, including AR-15 over-capacity magazines.
CBSA also said multiple firearms had duplicate serial numbers.
Eric Lapierre, director general with the CBSA in northern Ontario, described it as a “successful investigation” by the smuggling enforcement team.
Barling is charged with five counts of smuggling goods into Canada and two counts each of making false statements and importing goods without a permit.
The major also faces nine counts of importing a firearm knowing it is unauthorized, nine counts of unauthorized importing of a firearm and two counts of contravening transportation regulations.
None of the charges have been tested in court.
A spokesperson for the Department of National Defence (DND) said it’s aware one of its members serving at 1st Canadian Division Headquarters in Kingston has been charged by CBSA with a number of weapons-related offences.
“CAF members are held to a high standard of professional and personal conduct, and we take these allegations very seriously,” it read.
DND declined to comment further, pointing to the legal process underway.
Barling is scheduled to appear in court in Brockville, Ont. on Dec. 22.
