Guns found at Montreal crime scenes tied to Akwesasne weapons trafficking operation: U.S. prosecutors

U.S. federal prosecutors say five people have pleaded guilty and eight others have been charged in connection with a gun trafficking operation that smuggled illegal weapons into Canada through Akwesasne.

Among the guns smuggled was a pistol found during a kidnapping investigation in Montreal, a handgun used in a shooting on Guy St. and two guns found in La Baie and linked to members of the violent gang the Blood Family Mafia, the prosecutors say.

Authorities say they have tied 51 guns to the operation, which began in the summer of 2021 and ran until at least October 2024, at times using jet skis to smuggle guns across the border.

“This case alleges a sophisticated firearms trafficking network that exploited New Hampshire gun dealers, straw purchasers and the international border to move dozens of firearms into Canada,” Erin Creegan, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire, said in a news release Thursday. “Some of those weapons were later recovered at violent crime scenes involving offences such as kidnapping and attempted murder.”

U.S. prosecutors say the investigation began when a gun was recovered by Montreal police in late August 2024 as part of an investigation into a kidnapping. While the serial number on the Glock pistol had been removed, police were able to restore it and trace it back to a purchase by a man named Dustin Tuttle at a Keene, N.H., gun store.

A shell casing that had been found earlier by police in Akwesasne — and tied to a man arrested for weapons charges — was soon matched to a shell casing found by Montreal police.

“This investigation demonstrates the value of intelligence-driven policing and co-operative law-enforcement efforts. Crime gun intelligence connected firearms recovered at different crime scenes in Canada, advancing our Canadian partner’s domestic investigations into violent crime, while simultaneously alerting ATF to a transnational firearms trafficking scheme at work in the United States,” Thomas Greco, Special Agent in Charge of ATF Boston Field Division, said in a release. “The individuals indicted in this case exploited both their access to firearms and the freedom to travel while undermining public safety in both countries.”

Court documents show the some of the accused told police they were part of a smuggling network that also trafficked people and drugs through Akwesasne and that they used jet skis to smuggle guns from the New York portion of the border-spanning Akwesasne Nation into the Canadian part.

U.S. authorities say the gun-buying conspiracy centred on a Vermont man named Justin Jackson.

Members the Akwesasne Nation, about 100 kilometres southwest of Montreal, would travel to Vermont to have Jackson, 46, obtain guns for them, according to prosecutors.

But Jackson was barred from buying firearms because of a previous criminal conviction, so he had three others buy the guns for him — an illegal practice known as “straw purchasing.”

In March, Jackson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit straw purchasing of firearms, conspiracy to traffic firearms, sale of a firearm in furtherance of a felony and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. He is scheduled to be sentenced in June.

Two of the buyers, Melissa Longe, 44, and Tuttle, 25, each pleaded guilty to three charges, including the same conspiracy charges as Jackson and sale of a firearm in furtherance of a felony. The other buyer, Caleb Wilcott, 23, pleaded guilty to a single charge of false statement in connection with the acquisition of a firearm.

Another person, Doug Mulligan, 80, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm after he handed a weapon at the same gun shop where the smuggled guns were acquired and warned the members of the conspiracy that federal authorities were watching them.

Eight residents of the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Reservation have been charged with straw purchasing and firearms trafficking, U.S. officials say.

On Tuesday, Ranonkwatseronhawi Gibson, 22, Tayson Terrance, 23, Nash Oakes, 29, Montana Cook, 27, and Conrad Oakes, 25, were arrested by U.S. federal authorities.

Prosecutors say three others, Jonathan Hart, 31, Io-Rateka Swamp, 35, and Blade Oakes, 25, remain wanted.

According to prosecutors, messages between Terrance and Conrad Oakes show Terrance had smuggled guns to Oka and that he was robbed of the firearms there.

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