I-Team: Hundreds of guns used in crimes in Canada smuggled from Texas
DALLAS - Mexican drug cartels are not the only ones who look to Texas to smuggle guns.
In fact, there is a growing number of U.S. handguns being smuggled to Canada.
While the United States is trying to prevent guns from being smuggled south across the border, hundreds of guns used in crimes in Canada are coming from Texas.
According to Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, of guns traced last year that were involved in crimes in Ontario, Canada's most populated province, 73% originated from the United States, with no state having more hits than Texas. Last year, more than 300 guns used in crimes in Ontario were traced back to Texas - nearly ten times as many as five years ago.
"We are deeply concerned about illegal handguns coming into Canada from the United States, and in particular from Texas," said Niagara Regional Police Deputy Chief Bill Fordy.
Law enforcement on both sides of the border have increased efforts to stop the smuggling of handguns. Last spring, the two neighboring countries agreed to trace all guns that are intercepted at the border. This fall, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police embedded an officer to work full-time with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the Dallas area on gun smuggling investigations.
"Since about 2018, 2019, we have seen a significant amount of more guns trafficked to Canada," said Dallas ATF Special Agent in Charge Jeffery Boshek. "We got to do whatever we can, no matter where we are in that puzzle, to stop firearms violence. Violent crime with firearms is all of our problem."
Federal investigators said Canadian gun buyers are coming to North Texas with pockets full of cash and it doesn't take them long to find a Texan willing to sell them a handgun.
"All of our intelligence show these are random encounters with the straws," Boshek said.
Straw buyers are people who purchase guns on behalf of someone else.
The lure for these straw buyers is the money. A handgun purchased in Texas for $500 is being sold illegally on the streets Canada for up to $9,000, according to federal investigators.
That quick easy money is what enticed Demontre Hackworth, 31, of Dallas. In a span of less than two years, according to federal court records, Hackworth bought and illegally sold at least 92 firearms.
Last month, Hackworth, who pleaded guilty to dealing in firearms without a license, was sentenced to 21 months in prison. The U.S. Justice Department announced law enforcement has so far recovered 16 guns Hackworth sold in crime cases including cases of homicide, aggravated assault, and drug trafficking. Four of those crimes took place in Canada.
"Mr. Hackworth was just an opportunist. He found someone that was taking guns north to Canada, so he was kind of the intermediary to Canadian gun crimes," Boshek said.
In Canada, the rules on buying handguns have become stricter yet Canadian law enforcement said the number of handguns on the streets has increased and so has the violence.
Tyson Ndongozi, 20, of was about to start college on a football scholarship when he was shot and killed playing basketball in July of 2021 in Ottawa - the very city where Canadian politicians are still debating the stricter gun control measures.
After his son died, Ndongozi's father, Jooris, started an organization devoted to ending gun violence in Canada.
"Sometime i still cry - still now," Ndongonzi said. "It's why I try to do that to just help a family, a parent, to don't go through what is now in my heart."
Although Texas is more than a thousand miles away, Ndongozi said he believes the Lone Star State plays a pivotal role in keeping guns out of the hands of Canadian criminals.
With the help of the U.S., Canada has increased efforts to catch gun smugglers at the border.
In April, 173 guns in route to Canada were seized as investigators found them hidden in suitcases and cloaked in gift-wrap.
Other guns have been found hidden in shopping bags attached to drones being flown across the border.
"There is really no limit to how creative people will be when they are highly motivated to bring these guns across," Fordy said.
Despite these efforts, the reality is most of the U.S. - Canada border is open and undefended. Fordy said this why he believes the key to stopping gun smuggling to Canada is stopping illegal straw buys in places like Texas.
"We ask that you (Texas) join us in trying to keep our homes safe, our children safe, and do anything you can to be a good neighbor," he said.