Arrest warrant issued for accused firearms smuggler

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on February 22, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

An arrest warrant has been issued for a U.S Citizen accused of trying to smuggle firearms through the Coutts border last summer.

The warrant was issued last week after Jacob Mathew Gentry, 24, failed to show up for a scheduled appearance in Lethbridge provincial court.

His lawyer was allowed to get off the record after his agent told court he had not had any contact with his client in two months, and subsequently didn’t have any instruction on how he wanted to proceed.

On Aug. 5, 2022 a man attempted to enter Alberta at the Coutts border, and told officers he was moving to Alaska from Texas. During a secondary inspection officers found 12 overcapacity firearms magazines and capsicum spray, none of which the man declared when questioned.

Gentry is charged under the Customs Act with two counts each of smuggling goods and making false statements, and two counts under the Criminal Code of unauthorized import or export of a firearm.

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