(The Center Square) – Five New England residents have pleaded guilty in another gun smuggling operation foiled at the northern border using an Indian reservation as a thoroughfare.
Another eight were charged with being involved in an international firearms trafficking conspiracy to funnel illegally obtained weapons from New Hampshire through the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Reservation in upstate New York.
It’s the second major gun smuggling operation foiled at the northern border announced in one week. The first also allegedly involved the AMIR but involved Pakistani and Jordanian citizens charged in New York, The Center Square reported. According to the charges, the suspects attempted to traffic 89 firearms, including 17 stolen firearms, into Canada through or near the AMIR.
The five who pleaded guilty, Justin Jackson and Melissa Longe of Vermont, Dustin Tuttle and Caleb Wilcott of New Hampshire, and Doug Mulligan of Massachusetts, were indicted by a federal grand jury in New Hampshire.
They pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit straw purchasing of firearms, trafficking firearms and selling firearms in furtherance of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Their sentencings are scheduled between June and August.
Mulligan pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm after an incident at American Trikes & Motorsports.
Another eight were indicted by a federal grand jury – all AMIR residents – charged with straw purchasing and firearms trafficking. Four were arrested this week and remain in custody. The others remain at large in fugitive status. If convicted, they face decades in prison and more than $250,000 in fines.
The gun smuggling operation occurred during the Biden administration when record numbers of illegal border crossers were reported at the U.S.-Canada border, primarily in Vermont, New Hampshire and upstate New York, The Center Square first reported.
From July 2021 through October 2024 the group recruited others in and around Keene, New Hampshire, and Dummerston, Vermont, to make straw purchases, according to the charges. Straw purchase involve the buyer purchasing firearms for those who are prohibited from purchasing firearms or conceal their identities when making purchases at licensed dealers.
The scheme involved AMIR residents in New York traveling to Vermont where they enlisted Jackson to make a straw purchase even though he is prohibited from purchasing firearms. He then enlisted Longe, Tuttle and Wilcott to make straw purchases, according to the charges.
The investigation, led by ATF and Homeland Security Investigations, uncovered 51 firearms “potentially trafficked from New Hampshire to Canada through Vermont and New York, several of which were subsequently recovered at various crime scenes, to include kidnapping and attempted murder, in Canada,” according to the charges.
“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. Some of those weapons were later recovered at violent crime scenes involving offenses such as kidnapping and attempted murder. The defendants allegedly treated the Northern Border as a pipeline for illegal gun trafficking. It is not,” U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire Erin Creegan said.
The case was also investigated and is being prosecuted by the New Hampshire Homeland Security Task Force. The Ontario Provincial Police, Sûreté du Québec, Canada Border Services Agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Police, Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, New York Department of Corrections, the police departments of Manchester and Keene in New Hampshire were also involved in the investigation.
“This investigation demonstrates the value of intelligence-driven policing and cooperative 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. The individuals indicted in this case exploited both their access to firearms and the freedom to travel while undermining public safety in both countries,” ATF Boston Field Division Special Agent in Charge Thomas Greco said in a statement.
The AMIR busts come as ongoing border security efforts continue at the northern border and after First Nation chiefs came to Texas to learn of ways to implement stronger border security measures, The Center Square exclusively reported.
