Haggis
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Shared from CANOE.ca, with the usual disclaimer:
TORONTO -- A Canadian Forces sergeant has been fined $1,500 for mailing to Canada three assault rifles and ammunition while on a seven-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Randy Olive, 28, of Sault Ste Marie, Ont. was found guilty by a military court martial last month for sending the weapons and ammunition by Canada Post to his home for use as “artifacts or trophies of war,” according to an agreed statement of facts.
Court heard he mailed two AK-74s Russian-made assault rifles and three 30-round magazines between Aug. and Sept. 2010 while employed in Civil Military Cooperation with Joint Task Force Afghanistan.
The weapons were discovered after a package was intercepted by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) in Trenton, Ont., in Sept. 2010. The package was sent by Olive and destined to his home, investigators said.
Olive admitted upon questioning, that he also had a third assault rifle, an AK-47, and more ammunition at home that was mailed from Afghanistan.
“The items were seized and transferred to the military police,” the statement said. “Inspection of the seized items disclosed that the rifles had been rendered inoperable.”
Police found two of the rifles were missing bolts and return springs and the barrels were welded shut.
Olive was arrested in Afghanistan and placed on a Chinook helicopter and flown to a Kandahar airport for a trip home, military officials said.
“I have no doubt that the weapons in question are artefacts or war trophies,” said Commander P.J. Lamont, who presided over the court martial. “Sgt. Olive stated that he wished to acquire items like the weapons he sent to Canada for use as ... artefacts at their home unit.”
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan are banned from taking or sending home artifacts or trophies of war, since they can be potentially dangerous or illegal to import into Canada.
Olive was told by military officials there is a process a soldier can follow to legally bring a weapon home.
He was told the weapon had to be certified by military experts that it was inoperable and free of radiation.
“Even with that done, you still need to get permission to ship them back to Canada,” one officer said. And a senior officer “has to be aware of serial numbers and the whole nine yards.”
Olive, who’s based at the Sault Ste Marie Armoury, was ordered to repay the fine in $500 instalments.
TORONTO -- A Canadian Forces sergeant has been fined $1,500 for mailing to Canada three assault rifles and ammunition while on a seven-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Randy Olive, 28, of Sault Ste Marie, Ont. was found guilty by a military court martial last month for sending the weapons and ammunition by Canada Post to his home for use as “artifacts or trophies of war,” according to an agreed statement of facts.
Court heard he mailed two AK-74s Russian-made assault rifles and three 30-round magazines between Aug. and Sept. 2010 while employed in Civil Military Cooperation with Joint Task Force Afghanistan.
The weapons were discovered after a package was intercepted by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) in Trenton, Ont., in Sept. 2010. The package was sent by Olive and destined to his home, investigators said.
Olive admitted upon questioning, that he also had a third assault rifle, an AK-47, and more ammunition at home that was mailed from Afghanistan.
“The items were seized and transferred to the military police,” the statement said. “Inspection of the seized items disclosed that the rifles had been rendered inoperable.”
Police found two of the rifles were missing bolts and return springs and the barrels were welded shut.
Olive was arrested in Afghanistan and placed on a Chinook helicopter and flown to a Kandahar airport for a trip home, military officials said.
“I have no doubt that the weapons in question are artefacts or war trophies,” said Commander P.J. Lamont, who presided over the court martial. “Sgt. Olive stated that he wished to acquire items like the weapons he sent to Canada for use as ... artefacts at their home unit.”
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan are banned from taking or sending home artifacts or trophies of war, since they can be potentially dangerous or illegal to import into Canada.
Olive was told by military officials there is a process a soldier can follow to legally bring a weapon home.
He was told the weapon had to be certified by military experts that it was inoperable and free of radiation.
“Even with that done, you still need to get permission to ship them back to Canada,” one officer said. And a senior officer “has to be aware of serial numbers and the whole nine yards.”
Olive, who’s based at the Sault Ste Marie Armoury, was ordered to repay the fine in $500 instalments.
