Latvian refugee allegedly found with gun after wrong turn ends at U.S. border in Whatcom
Dinner and drinks with co-workers followed by a wrong turn last week landed a Latvian refugee in Whatcom County Jail after a Canadian Border Services Agency officer reportedly found a loaded Glock 19 handgun hidden under his seat.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, March 5, booked Igor Vladimirovicvladimir Ovich Karpov, 29, on suspicion of an alien possession of a firearm. Jail records show he was released Friday on $2,500 bail.
Sheriff’s deputies were called late Wednesday to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office at the truck border crossing on Pacific Highway for a firearms offense, according to Whatcom County Superior Court documents.
After a night out with co-workers, Karpov took a wrong turn and ended up at the Canadian border crossing where a Canadian officer did a search and found a Glock 19 handgun under the driver’s seat, documents state. The gun had six rounds loaded in the magazine, which was seated in the gun but did not have a round in the chamber.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer checked a database and confirmed that Karpov is a refuge from Latvia and not a U.S. citizen, according to court documents. The officer also found that Karpov does not have valid alien firearm license, documents show.
