Toronto Shootout Gun Tied To U.S. Smuggler, Hamilton Killing Exposes Cross-Border Crime Pipeline

A former Florida trucker has been sentenced in the United States after prosecutors said he smuggled handguns into Canada that later surfaced at crime scenes in Ontario and Quebec. The case links a Toronto shootout and a Hamilton killing to a cross-border firearms pipeline that investigators say fed violent street crime.

Court records reviewed by CBC News show that Erhan John Er, 35, pleaded guilty to conspiring to traffic firearms and received a prison sentence of more than four years in Tampa federal court. Prosecutors said the guns were bought legally in Florida, taken north by truck, and then resold to a Canadian trafficker for the retail price of each weapon plus a $1,000 fee.

How the smuggling scheme worked

Investigators said the weapons moved through a steady route that stretched as far as 2,000 kilometres across the border. The complaint filed by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Er claimed on federal purchase forms that he was the legitimate buyer.

U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe said in a statement that Er “falsely claimed to gun dealers that he was buying guns for himself, only to smuggle the guns into Canada, where they were used in multiple crimes.” Authorities said the recovered firearms were mostly Glock pistols, and many had their serial numbers obliterated before being traced back.

Canadian crime scenes linked to the guns

The court file says the weapons turned up in multiple Canadian investigations, including scenes in Thunder Bay, York Region, Durham Region and Halton Region. Quebec provincial police also seized a Glock 45 during a homicide probe in May 2023.

Another Glock 49 was recovered by Hamilton police while they investigated the fatal shooting of Tobenna Nnanna Obiaga, 45, who was shot after a disturbance call at a house party in Hamilton on June 30, 2024. Police said Obiaga, a father of two with a third child on the way, later died in hospital.

1. Hamilton case: Glock 49 recovered during a killing investigation.
2. Toronto case: Glock 27 found after a shootout at a recording studio.
3. Quebec case: Glock 45 seized in a homicide probe.
4. Other Ontario scenes: firearms traced to investigations across several regions.

Toronto shootout raised alarm

One of the firearms, a Glock 27 bought by Er from a Naples, Florida, gun retailer, was recovered 799 days later in a Toronto police investigation into a high-profile gunfight. Police described the November 2024 incident as reckless and said it was a miracle no one was killed or injured.

Video from the scene showed multiple people at a birthday gathering in a Toronto recording studio handling firearms before shots were fired. Toronto police told CBC News that 86 per cent of the crime guns seized in the city last year and traced so far came from the United States.

That figure underscores the scale of the problem facing police on both sides of the border. Canadian investigators have long warned that U.S.-sourced weapons play a major role in shootings in the Greater Toronto Area and beyond.

Evidence pointed to concealment and profit

ATF special agent Joshua Dominguez wrote in the complaint that altering or erasing serial numbers is often used by people trying to avoid detection. He said the methods include grinding, scraping and drilling, and all the guns recovered in this case had their serial numbers removed.

Agents also searched a storage unit in Sarasota, Florida, and found a grinder power tool there, along with a handwritten ledger. The notebook included a note marked “$16,412 Cdn payout,” which prosecutors say helped outline the financial side of the operation.

Er’s case also uncovered an attempted purchase of four Century Arms Mini Draco semi-automatic firearms in July 2022. The order was flagged as suspicious and never went through, according to the plea agreement.

What investigators still want to know

Er’s unnamed Canadian co-conspirator is identified only as “Person-1” in the plea deal, and that person has not been charged. Prosecutors said the investigation remains open as authorities continue to examine the broader network behind the trafficking route.

Ontario Provincial Police spokesperson Angie Sloan said the agency reviews information and evidence thoroughly and lays charges when the evidence supports it. The case now stands as another example of how legally purchased firearms in the U.S. can be diverted into Canadian criminal markets, then reappear in shootings that leave families, police and communities dealing with the aftermath.