British Columbia: Man sentenced after police seize ‘arsenal of ruinously destructive potential’


A 49-year-old Vancouver Island man will spend the next several years behind bars after he was caught with what a B.C. Supreme Court judge described as a “highly illegal arsenal of ruinously destructive potential.”

The arsenal, described by the judge at the man’s sentencing hearing last month, included 19 guns, a pipe bomb, detonation cord and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Joseph Michael Mark Walczak pleaded guilty to more than a dozen weapons offences after Mounties raided his Port Alberni apartment in March 2024.

Read more…
Source: CTV News


Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • Nova Scotia man charged with starting province’s largest-ever wildfire

    January 18, 2024

    A Nova Scotia man has been charged for allegedly starting the eastern Canadian province’s largest-ever wildfire. The charges against Dalton Clark Stewart, 22, come only days after a Quebec man, inspired by conspiracy theories, pleaded guilty to 14 charges of arson after deliberately lighting forest fires. Stewart, from the town of Villagedale, is facing three violations ...

  • U.S. Central Command: U.S. Forces, Allies Conduct Joint Strikes

    January 12, 2024

    TAMPA, Fla. – On Jan. 12 at 2:30 a.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Central Command forces, in coordination with the United Kingdom, and support from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and Bahrain conducted joint strikes on Houthi targets to degrade their capability to continue their illegal and reckless attacks on U.S. and international vessels and commercial shipping ...

  • Ontario: Ottawa youth terrorism case included chemical used in homemade explosives

    December 20, 2023

    The Ottawa youth arrested on terrorism charges Friday was allegedly in possession of a chemical commonly used in homemade explosives, according to court documents. The youth, who cannot be named due to his age, has been accused by the RCMP of counselling terrorism against the Jewish community. He is facing five charges, including possession of explosive ...

  • Pentagon announces new international mission to counter attacks on commercial vessels in Red Sea

    December 19, 2023

    MANAMA, Bahrain — The U.S. and a host of other nations are creating a new force to protect ships transiting the Red Sea that have come under attack by drones and ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Tuesday in Bahrain. The seriousness of the attacks, several of which have ...

  • TSA conducts international exercise focusing on threats to cross border systems with Amtrak, Transport Canada

    December 15, 2023

    SEATTLE – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) partnered with Amtrak and Transport Canada to conduct its first exercise on international soil in Vancouver, Canada, on December 13. Focusing on surface and critical infrastructure threats to cross border systems, the exercise scenario simulated events relating to railway security, with a focus on passenger rail services. Nearly 100 ...

  • Ontario: Ottawa man charged after small ‘homemade improvised explosive device’ detonated outside Centretown home

    December 11, 2023

    A 53-year-old Ottawa man was arrested and charged with multiple offences after a “small homemade improvised explosive device” was detonated outside a Centretown home on Sunday evening. Police said officers responded to multiple 9-1-1 calls around 8:40 p.m. on Sunday reporting a “loud noise and flash” at the home in the 100-block of Arlington Avenue. Article ...

  • Best kept secret: BC RCMP’s Explosive Disposal Unit

    November 10, 2023

    Last summer, two male suspects entered a Saanich bank clad in full body armor and armed with semi-automatic SKS rifles. When officers arrived on scene, there was an armed robbery in progress and 22 innocent people were inside the bank. Both gunmen, later identified as twin brothers Mathew and Isaac Auchterlonie, were killed by police, while ...

  • India to raise Khalistani threats issue with Canada, seek heightened security for Air India flights

    November 5, 2023

    India will raise the grave threats, issued by Canada-based Khalistani terrorist outfit Sikhs For Justice’s chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, with Canada. In an unsettling and alarming video message, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the head of Canada-based Khalistani terrorist outfit, has issued a chilling threat to the Indian government and Air India while urging Sikhs to abstain ...

  • US Army EOD technicians train with allies during Exercise Ardent Defender in Canada

    October 27, 2023

    5TH CANADIAN DIVISION SUPPORT BASE GAGETOWN, New Brunswick, Canada – U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians are training with military personnel from eight partner nations during Exercise Ardent Defender at 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown in New Brunswick, Canada, Oct. 20 – Nov. 2. EOD techs from the Fort Liberty, North Carolina-based 192nd Ordnance Battalion ...

  • Canada to conduct flights, airports security audit in Pakistan

    October 14, 2023

    A delegation of Transport Canada will visit Pakistan in December to conduct a flight and airport security audit, ARY News reported on Friday. Canada is expected to conduct a security audit of direct flights and airports in Pakistan in December. The Transport Canada delegation will arrive in Karachi in the first week of December and audit ...

  • Military divers from Vancouver Island to conduct mine clearance training in South Korea

    October 11, 2023

    A team of highly specialized divers from CFB Esquimalt is travelling to South Korea for a training mission. The clearance divers with Fleet Diving Unit Pacific find and dispose of underwater mines. “I don’t think a lot of people realize it, but there are thousands of mines leftover from World War II and they’re just floating ...

  • Ontario: Intense bomb-squad practice pays off for Barrie constable

    October 8, 2023

    Barrie police Const. Kevin Barkley, donned in a heavy, green armoured suit that covers him from head to toe, uses long-handled forceps to nudge debris on the pavement at a parking lot at 108 Anne St. N. near Edgehill Drive. He is slow and careful as he looks over the remains of an improvised explosive ...

  • Ontario: IED believed to be on vehicle in Barrie, parking lot explodes, sparking evacuations

    September 27, 2023

    Police locked down and evacuated a section of Barrie, Ont., Wednesday in the city’s west end after an explosion in a parking lot. Barrie Police Services Corporate Communications Coordinator Peter Leon said the improvised explosive device (IED) is believed to have been placed on a vehicle in an Anne Street North parking lot and was ...

  • Manitoba: Explosive device found by Winnipeg police during homicide investigation safely detonated

    September 16, 2023

    A potentially dangerous explosive device found by officers during a homicide investigation Friday has been safely detonated, Winnipeg police say. Officers were investigating the homicide of Damion Wayne Skrumeda, 46, at a Mulvey Avenue apartment when they found a suspicious item believed to be an improvised explosive device around 5:45 p.m. Friday, police said in ...

  • This police robot is designed for bomb disposal, but in Newfoundland and Labrador it has a different job

    September 14, 2023

    The ICOR Flex is the latest design in bomb-disposal technology. The Newfoundland and Labrador RCMP do not encounter many bombs, so they use the robot for a very different job. Read more… Source: CBC News