The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams, with assistance from the Calgary Police Service, have apprehended a man who they say legally bought a number of handguns only to turn around and sell them on the black market.

Philip Edward Sarrasin, 26, was arrested on October 24 following an investigation that began in March 2018, when police learned about the possibility of firearms being trafficked.

ALERT alleges that Sarrasin purchased seven handguns during a nine-month period in February 2016. Three of those firearms ended up surfacing during a number of police investigations; two in Calgary and one in Toronto:

  • Members of the CPS Gang Enforcement Team seized a Glock handgun as part of drug investigation in April 2017
  • Canadian Pacific Railway Police found a loaded Glock along a rail line in December 2017
  • Toronto police seized a Glock handgun during a drug arrest in October 2018

The other firearms that Sarrasin purchased remain unaccounted for.

He’s since been charged with firearms trafficking, possession of a firearm at an unauthorized place and failing to report a lost firearm.

Police say the tactic involved in this investigation is called ‘straw purchasing’. That's where someone without a criminal record and in possession of a valid Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL) purchases firearms for someone who could not legally buy guns or just doesn't want to be traced.