Sherwood Park ‘straw buyer’ sentenced in U.S. for smuggling guns from Texas into Canada
Posted February 11, 2025 9:30 am.
Last Updated February 11, 2025 9:31 am.
A 31-year-old Sherwood Park man linked to a gun found during a large drug bust in Edmonton in 2022 has been sentenced in the United States.
On Jan. 16, Harsimran Dhaliwal was sentenced to 82 months in prison and fined $30,000 for illegally purchasing guns to smuggle into Canada.
Police say Dhaliwal was arrested in Texas on Sept. 22, 2023, after an investigation by the American ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) determined he was travelling from Edmonton to Texas to act as a “straw buyer” – purchasing and organizing shipments of guns into Canada.
“This arrest and ultimate sentencing of a prolific straw buyer is an outstanding example of the complexity and teamwork that goes into these investigations,” EPS Staff Sgt. Eric Stewart said in a news release Tuesday.
“Our firearms teams have established the resources and the partnerships to work across international borders, so we are able to identify and hold accountable those who are bringing illegal weapons from the U.S. into Canada.”
Dhaliwal was first identified as a suspect after the November 2022 drug busts at homes in Glenora and Cameron Heights — two of Edmonton’s most affluent neighbourhoods. Police seized large quantities of cocaine, Xanax pills and several other drugs valued at just under $1 million.
Officers also seized eight handguns, two of which were believed to have been smuggled into the country. One of those weapons was traced to Dhaliwal after investigators restored its serial number.
In that investigation, then 53-year-old Adam Salah Johma and a 34-year-old man who could not be named to protect the identity of a two-year-old child found living in a drug trafficking house were charged with 102 offences.
