EDMONTON -- A Grande Prairie, Alta., man is facing firearm trafficking charges after police seized three restricted handguns and a shotgun during an arrest last Thursday.
The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) arrested 50-year-old Allan Salud for allegedly selling restricted firearms to the criminal market after straw purchasing.
Straw purchasing is when someone with a Possession and Acquisition Licence and no criminal record buys a firearm legally for someone who can't and sells it to them.
Salud bought 11 handguns since March, ALERT said. One of them was seized during a Grande Prairie RCMP drug investigation on March 27.
"Someone engaged in straw purchasing is recklessly putting the public at risk," ALERT Regional Teams Insp. Sean Boser said. "These are firearms being diverted to the criminal market, and who knows what kind of crimes they could potentially be used to commit."
The three handguns and one shotgun were seized from homes in Grande Prairie and Beaverlodge, Alta., ALERT said. The other seven still unaccounted for.
Salud is facing 31 charges, including firearms trafficking and possession of a firearm for the purpose of trafficking.
