Mohawk police in Akwesasne to fight gun smuggling with stepped-up water patrol

Quebec's government will spend $6.2 million over five years to beef up water patrol in the border community of Akwesasne, hoping to crack down on gun smuggling.

Akwesasne is a Mohawk community split by the U.S.-Canada border, with frequent back-and-forth border crossings. 

Though members of the community must still make declarations to border patrol when they cross a checkpoint, the division between the countries can get blurry -- a fact that smugglers can take advantage of, said the chief of Akwesasne Mohawk Police.

"At what point are you in the United States? At what point are you in Canada? There are no other borders, even though you went from Akwesasne United States to Akwesasne on the Canadian portion," said Chief Shawn Dulude in a press conference Thursday.

"Our officers know where those limits are, and the criminals know as well."

The extra funding will provide local police with five extra officers, a new boat, all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles.

Three Quebec officials jointly made the announcement with Dulude: Public Safety Minister Geneviève Guilbault, Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafrenière, and the MNA for Huntingdon, Claire Isabelle.

Guilbault, who is also deputy premier of Quebec, said the funding is "an important gesture to highlight the contribution of Indigenous police forces, including the Akwesasne police force, in the fight against crime and organized crime."

Lafrenière said the money will make the surrounding region safer, by helping stem the influx of illegal guns from the U.S., but will also make Akwesasne itself safer.

Akwesasne police already have a water patrol, but it hasn't had a 24/7 presence on the water, which it will now have.

It's hoped that this will have a deterrence effect, as well as possibly intercepting some smugglers. 

The Akwesasne territory is a complicated one to patrol, lying not only between two countries but alongside both sides of the St. Lawrence River, with part of its Canadian land in Ontario and part in Quebec.

It includes several islands in the river, as well.

While in summer, there's a boat patrol, in winter officers use snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles to travel the banks of the the St. Lawrence.