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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Charges for gun store's owner; weapons seized

By: Gabrielle Giroday and Aldo Santin

Posted: 11/4/2011 1:00 AM | Last Modified: 11/4/2011 2:03 PM | Updates

Weapons seized as a result of a warrant executed on Clarence Avenue on Nov. 2, 2011. (POLICE HANDOUT)

The owner of a Winnipeg gun store faces 24 criminal charges after police raided a Fort Garry shop and seized about 400 guns.

Police confirmed Friday that one store owner, Sean Beiko, is facing 24 charges, including multiple charges of unsafe storage of firearms, possession of a restricted firearm, and possessing a firearm with an altered serial number.

The bust at Moreguns Supply, a strip-mall business, started Wednesday morning with police executing a search warrant, and lasted for hours.

The case involved officers from several police forces, including the RCMP, Medicine Hat Police Service, The Canada Border Services Agency and the Office of the Chief Firearms Officer for Manitoba and Nunavut, RCMP said.

Police said the initial investigation regarded questionable storage practices at the business, but once that began it led to the other charges.

The nondescript store at 1420 Clarence Ave. had no obvious sign listing its name or the nature of its business. On Thursday, its windows were covered with brown paper.

An employee at a neighbouring business said he was suspicious after getting a glimpse inside the store.

"All the wall was lined with guns," said Warren Wiles, a part-time employee at the Engravers. "They didn't look like paintball guns."

Wiles said police arrived at the strip mall Wednesday at about 9 a.m. and arrested one store employee at a nearby intersection about an hour later. "They waited until he came down the street," he said. "He didn't have much choice."

Officers pulled the man out of a military jeep and handcuffed him, said Wiles. The jeep sat in the parking lot Thursday morning. Wiles said he saw about 15 officers involved in the bust, including officers carrying rifles out of the store.

"You don't expect that in a little strip mall like this," he said.

According to documents from the Manitoba Companies Office, the Moreguns Supply business was registered last year.

It was registered under a numbered company that dates back to 2001 and has two listed directors, including Beiko. The second man is not facing criminal charges.

People who work in the area said a business focusing on paintball supplies had been operating out of the storefront for years.

Sue Christie, co-owner of Speedpro Signs, knows Beiko and said she was surprised by the news of the gun bust. "He's so careful," she said. "I have no idea what happened there."

A website for Moreguns Supply advertises non-restricted rifles, restricted rifles, handguns and non-restricted shotguns. Prices range up to $2,749 for a semi-automatic rifle.

The company lists its mailing address as 303 Nassau St. North, where CanadianPaintball.com is located.

That business bills itself on its website as "Canada's largest online paintball store." No one from that business could be reached Thursday.

The Winnipeg Police Service did not comment on the bust Thursday, except to confirm a warrant was executed on the 1400 block of Clarence Avenue Wednesday.

However, court documents show Beiko was charged with five counts of unsafe storage of prohibited firearms, one count of tampering with a serial number, five counts of firearms trafficking and other charges. He was released on bail Thursday.

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 4, 2011 B1