The CBSA Charges Nasser Gholami, 47, of Brampton With Four Firearm-Related Offences After Border Officers in Mississauga Seized Two Complete Firearm Suppressors From a Parcel Shipped From the United States and the Ontario Firearms Smuggling Enforcement Team Searched His Brampton Home (October 8, 2026)
The Canada Border Services Agency says it has arrested and charged Nasser Gholami, 47, of Brampton, Ontario with several firearm-related offences, and that the Ontario Firearms Smuggling Enforcement Team led the investigation. The agency says border officers at its commercial operations facility in Mississauga stopped a parcel shipped from the United States on July 23, 2026 and seized two complete firearm suppressors, and that OFSET later identified Gholami as the suspected recipient. On September 24, 2026, the agency says, OFSET executed a search warrant at Gholami’s Brampton home and seized three non-restricted firearms, one prohibited suppressor attached to a firearm, digital devices and ammunition. Four counts are listed, under the Customs Act, the Criminal Code and the Firearms Act. Gholami is scheduled to appear at the Brampton Courthouse on November 5, 2026. The release does not give the date he was arrested, does not say whether he was released or held, and names no criminal organization, street gang, outlaw motorcycle club or cartel. Seventy-seven days separate the interception from this announcement.
The Parcel at the Mississauga Commercial Facility
The file begins at a mail and freight facility rather than at a land crossing. The agency says that on July 23, 2026, border officers at the CBSA’s commercial operations facility in Mississauga stopped a parcel shipped from the United States and seized two complete firearm suppressors.
The agency says OFSET later identified Gholami as the suspected recipient. The release does not say on what date that identification was made, does not describe the suppressors beyond calling them complete, does not say how the parcel was addressed or declared, and does not say who shipped it or from where in the United States.
The September 24 Search in Brampton
The agency says OFSET executed a search warrant at Gholami’s Brampton home on September 24, 2026 and seized three non-restricted firearms, one prohibited suppressor attached to a firearm, digital devices and ammunition.
That is a second suppressor seizure, separate from the two taken out of the July parcel, and the release describes it as attached to a firearm. The release does not say which of the three firearms it was attached to, does not give a make, model or calibre for any of the three, does not say whether any of them was loaded, and gives no quantity for the ammunition or count for the digital devices. It does not say whether the suppressor found attached to a firearm is alleged to have come from the United States.
The release does not separately date the arrest. It says Gholami was arrested and charged, without giving the day, and this briefing does not supply one.
The Four Counts
The agency lists four counts, each introduced in the release as “one count,” and each cited to a specific statutory provision. Two of the four name suppressors in brackets. The release calls them firearm-related offences and attaches no further category to them.
Charges as the Release Words Them
- Count one: One count of smuggling prohibited devices (suppressors), s. 159 (1) Customs Act
- Count two: One count of importing prohibited devices while knowing unauthorized (suppressors), s. 103 (1)(a) Criminal Code
- Count three: One count of possession of a prohibited device knowing he was not the holder of a licence under which he may possess it, s. 92(2) Criminal Code
- Count four: One count of unsafe display of a non-restricted firearm, s. 86(2) Criminal Code, and s. 117(h) of the Firearms Act
What the CBSA Says OFSET Is
The release’s quick facts describe the Ontario Firearms Smuggling Enforcement Team as a unit of criminal investigators, intelligence analysts and intelligence officers that focuses only on firearms smuggling in Ontario. The agency also says CBSA investigators can obtain search warrants and other judicial authorizations to gather evidence of offences under the Customs Act and other border-related laws.
Trishann Pascal, Executive Director, Greater Toronto Area Region and National Lead, Combatting Firearms Smuggling, CBSA, is quoted in the release saying: “This arrest and resulting criminal charges reflect the CBSA’s role in upholding the law with integrity and consistency.” The release also quotes Pascal saying those who attempt to smuggle illegal firearm parts into the country will be “identified, investigated and prosecuted”; no OFSET investigator is named.
This site reported another OFSET file on September 24, 2026, when the CBSA charged Frank Charette, 60, of Cottam with ten offences following search warrants in Essex County. That is a separate investigation with a separate accused, and nothing in either release links the two.
What the Release Does Not Publish
- Arrest date: the release says Gholami was arrested and charged but gives no date for the arrest.
- Custody: no statement of whether he was held or released, and no bail or release conditions. The words “bail,” “release order” and “conditions” do not appear in the release.
- Prior orders: no mention of any firearms prohibition order, probation order or court order binding the accused.
- The firearms: no make, model, calibre or serial number for any of the three non-restricted firearms, and no statement of whether any was loaded.
- The suppressors: no make or description beyond “complete” for the two in the parcel, and no statement of whether the one found attached to a firearm is alleged to be from the same source.
- Quantities: no round count for the ammunition and no count for the digital devices.
- The parcel: no shipper, no origin within the United States, no declared contents and no description of how it was selected for examination.
- File number: no court information number or file number appears in the release.
- Organization: no gang, outlaw motorcycle club, crime family, syndicate or cartel is named.
Timeline
- Thursday, July 23, 2026Border officers at the CBSA’s commercial operations facility in Mississauga stop a parcel shipped from the United States and seize two complete firearm suppressors, the agency says.
- After July 23, 2026 — date not publishedOFSET identifies Gholami as the suspected recipient, the agency says. The release gives no date for that step.
- Thursday, September 24, 2026OFSET executes a search warrant at Gholami’s Brampton home and seizes three non-restricted firearms, one prohibited suppressor attached to a firearm, digital devices and ammunition.
- Date not publishedGholami is arrested and charged with four counts. The release does not separately date the arrest.
- Thursday, October 8, 2026The Canada Border Services Agency publishes the file under a Mississauga dateline, 77 days after the interception and 14 days after the search warrant.
- Thursday, November 5, 2026Gholami is scheduled to appear at the Brampton Courthouse.
Intercepted the parcel, laid the four counts and published the release on October 8
Led the investigation, identified the suspected recipient and executed the September 24 search warrant
Where Gholami is scheduled to appear on November 5, 2026
No gang, club, crime family, syndicate or cartel appears in the release
Sources
- Canada Border Services Agency, “CBSA makes arrest and lays charges in firearm investigation,” published October 8, 2026, Mississauga dateline, no time given — the source for the allegations here: the July 23 interception and the two complete suppressors, OFSET’s role and its identification of the suspected recipient, the September 24 search warrant and everything seized at the Brampton home, the name and age of the accused, the four counts and their statutory citations, the quotation and its speaker, the quick facts describing OFSET, and the November 5 court date — canada.ca
- On the earlier OFSET file: Gangland Files, “A Conspiracy Count With Nobody on the Other End of It: the CBSA Charges Frank Charette, 60, of Cottam with Manufacturing Prohibited Firearms…,” September 24, 2026 — established that the same unit was credited with a separate Essex County investigation. Neither release links the two files and no link is asserted here.
Nasser Gholami is presumed innocent. He has not entered a plea and none of the four counts has been tested in court; the release reports no plea, trial or conviction, and records a scheduled appearance rather than a trial. Every allegation here is the Canada Border Services Agency’s, in the wording of its October 8 release, and the quotation is Trishann Pascal’s as the release credits it. The release names no gang, outlaw motorcycle club, crime family, syndicate or cartel, and none is named or implied here. The parcel was intercepted in Mississauga and the search warrant was executed in Brampton, both inside the Greater Toronto Area. No publication ban is mentioned in the release.