Confessions of a gun smuggler: Former trafficker reveals how she brought weapons into Canada
CBC
Everyone knows guns used by Canadian criminals are often smuggled from the U.S. Not everyone knows how — not like Naomi Haynes does. That's because she did the smuggling.
A native Montrealer who's been living in the U.S. for decades, she helped traffic dozens of weapons into Canada, some linked directly to drug gangs.
"I wasn't thinking about the havoc I was causing in my birth land," she told CBC News last week.
"I've got my kids, I've got bills. The only thing I [was] thinking about is monetary gains. I wasn't thinking about the people who are going to be affected."
CBC News established contact with Haynes while she was in prison — at first communicating by email, then with a glitchy prison video app and then in a lengthy interview following her release last year.
Her story helps shed light on the thousands of guns a year in Canada that police trace to the U.S.
She described, in detail, tricks of the smuggling trade. And how she managed to move drugs, cash and, eventually, guns, for many years, depending on the product — either into the U.S., between U.S. states or into Canada.
Rule No. 1: Only one person per car. If the vehicle gets stopped at the border, you don't want two partners tripping over each other's story during secondary questioning.
"There's only one story this way," said Haynes, 45. "If you have two drivers, there's conflicting stories, and that's when you have problems.… 'Oh, you're coming from Virginia, but your friend says [she's] coming from Baltimore.'
"So just one driver, so they can stick with their one lie."
Rule No. 2: Find a good hiding spot. She would stash items in hidden compartments under seats; in door panels; in the trunk. She'd also move drugs in a gas tank — in triple-sealed, vacuumed bags.
Rule No. 3: Get drivers who won't arouse suspicion. Haynes didn't transport guns herself; she got pulled over too often. She'd ride in a separate vehicle.
"I started paying white girls and guys to move stuff for me," she said. Especially white women. They never got pulled over, she said.
Until one did.
