CBSA border guards inspect vehicles at the Sumas border crossing in Abbotsford, B.C. on April 2, 2013.Ben Nelms/The Globe and Mail
Two men who were caught entering Canada illegally with $250,000 in U.S. currency and a loaded handgun near the border in Abbotsford, B.C., have been sentenced to more than two years in prison.
The Canada Border Services Agency says Pablo Gonzalez and Miguel Gonzalez have pleaded guilty in provincial court to failing to appear for examination, failing to answer questions truthfully and possession of proceeds of crime.
The CBSA says that on Dec. 14, 2012, a police officer stopped a suspicious car with three men, two of whom were dressed in wet camouflage clothing and able to produce only Mexican identification.
When the search of the vehicle netted two small duffel bags containing the cash and the gun, the pair was arrested and transferred to CBSA custody.
They were sentenced last week to 25 months behind bars.
On Jan. 15, Canadian resident Luis Alvarez, the driver of the vehicle, was charged with aiding and abetting for his role in assisting the pair, and his trial has been set for March 2014.