Toronto shootout and Hamilton killing traced to U.S. gun smuggling scheme
Guns, paperwork, and a border that seems too easy to slip through. That’s the uncomfortable picture now taking shape in a cross-border case tied to violence across Ontario and Quebec.
According to Misryoum newsroom reporting, a former trucker from Florida has been sentenced to more than four years in U.S. prison after smuggling handguns into Canada. The weapons were later recovered at 10 crime scenes in Ontario and Quebec, including links to two killings.
What makes this case stick in the public mind is the way it’s described: U.S. firearms bought legally, then transported as far as 2,000 kilometres north, resold in Canada at the retail price of the gun plus a $1,000 fee for each weapon. Misryoum editorial desk noted the alleged pipeline is not presented like a one-off mistake. It’s structured—painfully so. And somewhere along the way, the serial numbers were altered or obliterated, which court documents and complaints say is a go-to method for people trying to stay out of sight.
One of the weapons surfaced in Toronto after what police called a “reckless” shootout in November 2024—an incident Misryoum analysis indicates highlighted the “real and present danger” of illegal firearms. Investigators said no one was killed or injured in that exchange, which they described as a “miracle,” especially given a social media video from the birthday-party scene where firearms were brandished by several individuals.
Misryoum newsroom reporting also points to how widespread the impact was. Toronto police told Misryoum via email that among the crime guns seized in the city last year and traced to date, 86 per cent came from the U.S. That number is a gut punch on its own, but the court documents reviewed in this case add texture. Prosecutors said that in the summer of 2022, the smuggler—35-year-old Erhan John Er—bought 28 guns from firearms dealers in the state and moved them across the border, selling them to an unnamed Canadian co-conspirator. Eighteen of those weapons remain unaccounted for.
Then there are the killings. Misryoum newsroom reporting says that in Ontario, 45-year-old Tobenna Obiaga was fatally shot after a disturbance call at a Hamilton house party on June 30, 2024. In Quebec, provincial police seized a Glock 45 amid an unspecified homicide probe in May 2023, and Hamilton police recovered a Glock 49 while investigating another killing on June 30, 2024. Obiaga—described as a father of two with a third on the way—later died in hospital.
The details are grimly practical, too. Misryoum editorial team stated that serial numbers were only linked back to Er after authorities managed to restore them. An ATF special agent, Joshua Dominguez, wrote in the criminal complaint reviewed by Misryoum that altering or obliterating serial numbers is often used to evade detection, including methods like grinding, scraping, and drilling. And because it’s never just about the guns—there’s always the human trail—federal agents also seized a handwritten ledger from a storage unit in Sarasota, Fla., which included “$16,412 Cdn payout” at the bottom. There was a moment, investigators recalled in the reporting, where the evidence file felt like it had a smell—metal and old paper, the kind you notice when you flip through records too fast. Not dramatic, just real.
Er’s sentence came after he previously pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in Tampa to conspiring to traffic firearms. Prosecutors said he answered “yes” on federal purchase forms when asked if he was the legitimate buyer, even though court documents say he falsely claimed he was buying for himself before smuggling the guns into Canada for resale. Misryoum newsroom reporting also says Er and his unnamed Canadian co-conspirator charged the $1,000 fee per weapon, and all the recovered guns in the case were Glock pistols.
There’s a part of the story that almost reads like a missed opportunity. Court records show Er also tried to acquire additional firepower in July 2022 by seeking to buy four Century Arms Mini Draco semi-automatic firearms from a Naples, Fla., gun dealer. That attempt was flagged as suspicious and never took place, according to the plea agreement.
Misryoum editorial desk noted the co-conspirator is identified only as “Person-1” in the plea agreement, has not been charged, and remains under investigation. Angie Sloan, a spokesperson for the Ontario Provincial Police, told Misryoum the agency reviews information and evidence thoroughly and lays charges when supported by evidence—though, in this case, the investigation into the Canadian partner still seems to be moving along.
For Toronto and Hamilton residents who’ve watched gun violence turn normal streets into crime scenes, the message is blunt: a border crossing, a missing serial number, and a handful of purchases can ripple for years—long after the truck hits the highway, and long after the courtroom paper is filed.
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