11 Jan This illegal switchblade was a ‘bestseller’ on Amazon.ca until it was reported to the company
“Somehow this very illegal knife made it to my house and I could not be happier.”
That’s what one customer wrote in a product review on Amazon.ca alongside a video they posted showing the knife spring up and down out of its handle over and over again with the flick of a switch.
Described as a “camping knife” on the listing, the product meets the criteria of a switchblade, which is a prohibited weapon in Canada. Until last week, Amazon showed the knife as in stock and ready to ship with two-day delivery.
But then the delivery time increased — seemingly — after Amazon sold out of the stock that an independent seller had provided to its warehouse. The knife was advertised as a “bestseller,” with the listing stating it was purchased more than 300 times in the last month.
“It doesn’t matter that you call it a camping knife,” said Daniel Goldbloom, a Toronto criminal defence lawyer who reviewed the listing.
“If it’s a knife where you press a button and a blade springs out of the handle, that’s a prohibited weapon and you’re not allowed to have it.”
CBC Toronto combed through product listings on Amazon.ca after receiving tips from an employee and a customer who were concerned about Canada’s largest online retailer advertising, selling and shipping illegal weapons.
The investigation revealed the listing for the switchblade, along with others for stun guns and brass knuckles, which are considered prohibited weapons in Canada. All of the listings have since been taken down.
Stun guns advertised as self defence or tactical flashlights were also removed from Amazon after an Ontario-based employee flagged the products internally late last year. But the employee — who is no longer with the company — says within a few days of the listings’ removal, the stun guns reappeared on the site.
A CBC Toronto investigation revealed listings on Amazon for a switchblade, along with stun guns and brass knuckles, which are considered prohibited weapons in Canada. All of the listings have since been taken down.
“This shouldn’t be like playing whack-a-mole,” said the former Amazon employee. CBC is not naming the employee for fear of repercussions to their future employment.
“I would like to see Amazon have better filters and be able to prevent these items from being listed. It shouldn’t be the case where somebody has to report these items as they appear.”
What Amazon does to prevent these illegal listings
In an email, an Amazon spokesperson said the company has controls in place to prevent the sale of prohibited products — such as weapons — and that Amazon uses technology to continuously scan the store’s catalog to catch listings that have evaded those controls.
“If we discover a product was undetected by our proactive controls, we address the issue immediately and update our controls as needed,” said spokesperson Barbara Agrait.
In the case of the switchblade, Agrait said, “a bad actor evasively listed the prohibited product for sale in our store to circumvent our controls.”
“We have removed the product in question and have terminated the bad actor’s ability to operate in our store.”
Generally, when an independent seller listing illegal products is identified the products are removed from Amazon’s site, the seller’s contract is terminated, and Amazon contacts law enforcement to destroy the products if they’re in the company’s warehouse, according to Agrait.
Goldbloom, the lawyer, says it’s unlikely for companies, whether they’re here in Canada or abroad, to be criminally charged for possessing or trafficking prohibited weapons.
“The types of charges that tend to come through our criminal justice system tend to be more targeted at individuals than at companies in these types of prosecutions,” he said.
Catching prohibited weapons at the border
Many of those prosecutions begin with investigations run by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Last year, the federal agency laid both criminal and Customs Act charges against several people across the country following investigations that started with a prohibited weapon seizure at the border. In at least two of those cases, the weapons seized were shipped from China.
CBC Toronto asked CBSA how many of its seizures of prohibited weapons were connected to an Amazon order or sale, but the agency said its systems don’t track where seizures were purchased.
In an interview, Aaron McCrorie, vice-president of the CBSA’s intelligence and enforcement branch, said the agency works closely with Amazon and other shippers to make sure their shipments follow the law.
But while he said “it’s disappointing,” he’s not surprised prohibited weapons were available for sale from third parties on Amazon’s Canadian website.
The biggest challenge CBSA faces trying to prevent prohibited weapons, and other illegal shipments, from entering the country is the sheer volume of packages entering Canada through the postal and courier systems nowadays, according to McCrorie.
“The ability of people to conceal smaller items and ship them internationally into Canada is a huge challenge for us,” he said.
“That is really why we need to focus our efforts on the areas of greatest risk and give our front-line staff the tools to identify shipments that are suspicious.”
In the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the CBSA seized 18,359 prohibited weapons, which doesn’t include seized firearms. With three months left to go in the current fiscal year, the border agency has already seized 21,873 prohibited weapons.
To avoid trouble, Goldbloom recommends consumers be cautious when buying anything that could be considered a weapon online.
“Ignorance of the law is not a defence,” the criminal lawyer said.
“If you find something online that you think might be a prohibited weapon, or otherwise illegal to possess, the cheapest and easiest solution is not to buy it.”