Great Lakes Wire

Three Canadian citizens have been indicted for allegedly smuggling firearms into Canada from the United States. The charges were announced by United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr., who was joined by several law enforcement officials.

The individuals charged are Akeem Richards-Crawford, 31, Dwayne Harrison, 34, and Jannai Stewart, 35. They face charges of conspiracy to smuggle and smuggling firearms and firearm magazines across the border.

According to the indictment, Richards-Crawford and Harrison traveled from Canada to the U.S. in October 2023. They rented a vehicle and hotel room in Detroit before traveling to Houston and Cincinnati to obtain firearms. On October 26, 2023, they returned to Michigan with a backpack containing 36 firearms. Harrison then used a jet ski on the St. Clair River to transport the firearms into Canada but mistakenly approached an unmarked police vehicle upon arrival.

After realizing his error, Harrison fled on foot, leaving behind the backpack which contained individually wrapped firearms in tube socks. Canadian law enforcement recovered the items and encountered Stewart nearby after receiving texts from Harrison asking for pickup assistance.

If convicted, each defendant could face up to 10 years in prison for each smuggling count and up to five years for conspiracy.

The investigation is being conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with Canada's Ontario Provincial Police. The case is prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Douglas Salzenstein and Erin Ramamurthy with Chantelle Dial from the Department of Justice's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt; defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.