Former MP charged after major firearm seizure

Mounties arrested a former Dauphin mayor and member of Parliament — and seized more than 400 firearms and $300,000 in cash from his home — following a months-long firearm trafficking investigation.

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After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks. Mounties arrested a former Dauphin mayor and member of Parliament — and seized more than 400 firearms and $300,000 in cash from his home — following a months-long firearm trafficking investigation. Manitoba RCMP charged Inky Mark, 78, with a dozen offences, including firearm trafficking, possessing a firearm with a tampered serial number, careless use of a firearm, unsafe storage of firearms and possessing a restricted or prohibited weapon with ammunition without a licence.

Police seized a total of 439 firearms, an antique cannon, ammunition and more than $300,000 from Mark’s Dauphin home, Cpl. Barry Kirby with the RCMP’s Manitoba West District General Investigation Section said during a news conference in Winnipeg on Monday. Kirby said it’s expected to take weeks for investigators to document the large amount of evidence from Mark’s home and to determine how many of the firearms were illegally possessed.

“What we’re able to confirm today is that at least three firearms were illegally trafficked, at least one firearm had its serial number tampered with and hundreds of the firearms were improperly stored inside the home,” Kirby said. The investigation originated in late March, after RCMP were notified that police in the United States had laid firearm charges against a 73-year-old Dauphin-area man, Wilfred Kachurowski. While executing a search warrant in relation to Kachurowski, police found and seized firearms purchased by a second suspect and never lawfully transferred, Kirby said.

The National Weapons Enforcement Support Team (NWEST) obtained two warrants to search the second suspect’s Dauphin home, Kirby said. NWEST and the RCMP executed the search warrants last Tuesday, resulting in officers seizing the weapons. Kirby said officers arrested Mark at the home without incident, and more charges are possible as the investigation continues.

He said Mark appeared in court last week and was remanded in custody before being released on an undertaking. Kirby said Mark doesn’t have a prior criminal history and police didn’t know his motive for having the weapons. “We know he’s a firearm collector, but that’s really all at this time,” he said.

“You can possess as many firearms legally that you want to possess. Where it goes into the criminal realm is when you get into the trafficking of the firearms, the unsafe storage, the unauthorized possession of certain firearms.” Firearms trafficking isn’t just about the weapons themselves, but also the crimes those weapons enable, Manitoba RCMP Asst.

Commissioner Scott McMurchy said at the conference. “In the wrong hands, they can fuel violence in the communities that we serve and support the activities of organized crime groups.” He also emphasized the importance of legal gun owners safely storing firearms.

If a firearm is unattended or not stored properly, the likelihood of it being stolen increases, he said. “Once stolen, that firearm can be used in a variety of crimes — robberies, assaults and other violent activities ... When it comes to firearms, safety isn’t just a rule or a law, it is the responsibility that we all share.”

Google Maps images captured of Mark’s home in 2024 show an array of various signs and flags arranged outside the property. One sign included a