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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

City firearms bust one of team's largest

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 11/5/2011 1:00 AM

Det. Rob Duttchen (right) and RCMP Insp. Tyler Bates show some of the weapons (above and below) that were seized from a business in Fort Garry. (WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

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(WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

WINNIPEG police on Friday displayed an array of firearms seized during one of the largest busts in the history of a Canadian firearms enforcement team.

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

Det. Rob Duttchen said it was the biggest bust he's ever been part of and the second-biggest bust in the history of the Canadian Firearms Program's national weapons enforcement support team.

The guns seized include handguns, semi-automatic weapons, pump-action shotguns and bolt-action rifles.

The bust at Moreguns Supply, a strip-mall business at 1420 Clarence Ave. in Fort Garry, 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, 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 had no obvious sign listing its name or the nature of its business. On Thursday, its windows were covered with brown paper.

Duttchen said the main concern for police was that the guns were not properly stored and could have been an easy target for thieves.

He said the sale of restricted or prohibited guns to collectors, for example, comes with strict registration, licensing and inventory rules that spawned some of the 24 charges.

There is no evidence the guns had crossed into Canada illegally or that any of the weapons fell into the wrong hands.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 5, 2011 A8

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