EDMONTON -- Two men have had nine firearms seized are facing multiple gun-related charges after a three-month investigation.
Edmonton Police say they got a tip in September that a man was advertising prohibited weapons on an online buy-and-sell website.
Investigators determined that an organized criminal network was illegally obtaining guns and ammunition and selling them to others online and in-person, according to police.
Police say obtaining the guns was done in part through straw buyers, where someone with a valid firearms licence purchases the weapons for someone who isn't legally permitted to buy them.
"“This particular case illustrates how firearms can be illegally obtained in a number of ways, including via firearms trafficking and straw purchasing, and are often sold in areas well beyond where they were originally sourced,” says Sgt. Eric Stewart with the EPS' Firearms Investigation Unit.
“There are no boundaries to firearms trafficking, and once the firearms enter the illegal market, they can be trafficked numerous times in numerous jurisdictions until seized by police.”
The weapons included several semi-automatics, a tactical rifle and a shotgun.
Saddle Lake residents Keano Gadwa, 22, and Ian Cardinal, 30, are charged with 15 firearms-related offences.
Police say the two are known to them and additional arrests and charges are pending.
