Advertisement

Canadians arrested after allegedly accidentally crossing border in mobile meth lab

The final season of Breaking Bad proved a winner with star Bryan Cranston again named best dramatic actor, 2 more acting awards and the show grabbing best drama honours

Cue the Breaking Bad references: Two Canadians and a mobile meth lab made headlines this week after being arrested at the U.S. border.

British Columbians Calum James Buchanan, 41, and Lola Crystal McKay, 24, were charged after they were stopped at the border to Washington – apparently after getting lost and accidentally trying to enter the United States.

While the story seems like one-of-a-kind, it is not the first time someone was charged after accidentally crossing the border.

The Bellingham Herald reports that the two Canadians were arrested last weekend after getting lost and allegedly accidentally trying to drive across the border in a mobile meth lab.

According to the newspaper, a border patrol officer found several containers of gas and chemicals while searching the 1994 Pontiac Grand Am last Sunday. Buchanan reportedly confessed to the car being a mobile drug lab, but said he was supposed to deliver it to someone in Canada, before accidentally stumbling into the border crossing.

“My understanding is they got turned around with the border construction,” Lynden Fire Chief Gary Baar told the newspaper.

As bizarre as this story seems, it is by no means the first cringe-worthy incident of border-crossing failure. If nothing else, this mobile meth lab’s bad break at the border should stand as a reminder of all those who have come before.

Earlier this year, a 46-year-old Kentucky man was arrested after accidentally trying to cross into Canada from Vermont with a loaded handgun.

He and his wife were said to have been “misdirected by an unreliable GPS” when they found themselves in the border lineup. He was arrested when border officers found the loaded weapon and faced the possibility of three years in prison before he was acquitted of all charges in September.

The incident is reminiscent of other Americans who say they accidentally brought a gun into Canada. In 2012, Utah university student Kraig Jacobson was arrested in Canada with a pistol of his own.

Jacobson did know he had crossed the border, during a six-week motorcycle trip, but claimed he didn’t realize handguns were banned. Another American attempted to drive across the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor Ont., after taking a wrong turn. He was arrested with a 9mm pistol in his truck.

According to the Los Angeles Times, nearly 1,400 firearms have been confiscated at the Canadian border over the past three years, meaning cases like those above are not rare.

The issue of accidental border crossings is a little more complicated for the residents of Stanstead, Que., and Derby Line, Vt. – two connected towns that are separated by only the international border. The border runs through the middle of town, even splitting a church in two, so that the front door opens into America, while the rear entrance is in Canada.

The dividing line is marked by a row of flower pots.

The community has dealt with the odd layout with relative peace. But in 2012, media reports suggest authorities began cracking down on those who would meander across the border, fining people $5,000 and in one case throwing an American in jail after picking up a pizza from Canada.

One of the most notorious border security snafus, however, relates to a Canadian crossing southward. Earlier this year, an Alberta teenager was flying out of Alberta on an international flight when airport security screened his baggage and found a pipe bomb inside. The young traveller claimed he had forgotten the bomb was in his suitcase. Security confiscated the device but allowed the teen to continue with his trip. It was only upon his return to Canada that he was charged.

Lastly, a Windsor, Ont., man was recently arrested trying to return home from Detroit while smuggling 50 turtles strapped to his body. The man, who was caught at the border with “irregularly shaped bulges” under his sweatpants, was charged in a turtle smuggling plot.

He may have crossed the border on purpose, but there is every indication that he, too, had lost his way.