A 30 year Osoyoos man has been charged after allegedly selling dozens of smuggled  firearms to gangsters in the Okanagan and Metro Vancouver.

Tyler Ryan Cuff is believed to have used his dual U.S.-Canadian  citizenship to legally purchase handguns at various Washington  State gun shows.

Cuff then allegedly smuggled the firearms into B.C. inside both a truck and  car passing through the border crossing at Osoyoos.

Cuff was arrested August 29 in Langley after allegedly selling an undercover police officer a weapon.

 Charges Laid: CCC – 91(1) Unauthorized possession of firearm  CCC – 91(1) Unauthorized possession of firearm     CCC – 86(2) Storage, etc. of firearm contrary to regulations    CCC – 99(1)(a) Manufacturing or transferring

Cuff was not previously known to police and has no criminal  record. He has been released from custody and ordered to appear in Surrey  Provincial Court September 13th.

From: Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia (CFSEU-BC).

The investigation began with a tip in May that a 30-year-old man, who happened to be a dual Canadian/U.S. citizen, was possibly smuggling firearms from Washington State into British Columbia. CFSEU-BC began an undercover investigation, dubbed Project E-Passkey, after it was learned that the man was living in Osoyoos.

CFSEU-BC investigators determined that the man was allegedly using his dual citizen status to legally purchase firearms at various Washington State gun shows. It is believed that the man used a truck and a car to smuggle the guns through the Oroville, Washington/Osoyoos, British Columbia border crossing.

Through the course of the investigation, evidence was gathered regarding the alleged gun smuggling and it was further uncovered that possibly dozens of guns, believed to be mostly Glock handguns, were being sold to various gang-related groups both in the Okanagan and Lower Mainland.

The investigation is ongoing and CFSEU-BC is currently examining whether any firearms that Cuff is alleged to have smuggled and sold have any connections to any other police investigations, how many firearms may have been brought into Canada, and how many guns may have been sold and to whom.

“We all know that guns in the hands of gangsters put everyone at risk,” says CFSEU-BC spokesperson Sergeant Lindsey Houghton. “We are continuing to work with law enforcement partners across North America to stop gun violence in our neighbourhoods and by stopping the flow of guns going to gangsters we are making communities around British Columbia safer.”