More than three dozen charges were laid Monday on top of nine charges filed last week against a Langley man arrested at the Nk’Mip campground in Osoyoos one month ago.

Bradley Michael Friesen, 37, was arrested on July 17 at the campground in Osoyoos where officers found and seized numerous firearms and prohibited firearms-related devices.

Many of the weapons were found in his van, stashed underneath a booster seat in which the accused’s five-year-old son was sitting and at the boy’s feet.

“Bradley Friesen is a dangerous offender who is alleged to have shown a complete disregard for the safety of the public, including compromising the safety of his own child by putting him in proximity to firearms and other weapons. As a parent, I find this absolutely appalling,” Sergeant Lindsey Houghton with the Combined Forces Unit said in a media release.

Friesen has an extensive criminal record that includes attempted murder with a firearm in Penticton in 2003.

He was also under court order to not possess any firearms as a lifetime firearms prohibition was in place against him.

According to RCMP, Friesen is connected to several mid-level B.C. crime groups.

A number of firearms and firearms-related devices, including Glocks, rifles and silencers were found at Friesen’s home during an investigation carried out by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C. and the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The Combined Forces Unit obtained a search warrant for Friesen’s property in Langley, as well as his vehicles, workshop and the campground and tent in Osoyoos where Friesen was camping.

Police believe Friesen was manufacturing silencers in his workshop.

The day before his arrest in Osoyoos, Friesen was indicted by the United States Attorney in Tucson, Arizona on weapons trafficking charges. American authorities are seeking extradition to the United States.

Police suspect Friesen of mailing gun products to addresses in Canada, the U.S. and Australia.

Friesen remains in custody in Surrey awaiting trial on the Canadian charges, including weapons trafficking, importing and exporting unauthorized weapons, and possession of unauthorized weapons.

Police have accused Friesen of selling Glock auto sears and switches over the internet.

These gun parts allow Glock pistols to be converted to fully automatic and silenced weapons.

Officers in the Lower Mainland began surveillance on Friesen and observed him mailing packages of auto sears and silencers to addresses in Canada, the United States and Australia.

They also followed him to what they believed to be his workshop in Langley.

When he was arrested in Osoyoos, police found numerous firearms and firearms-related prohibited devices in his van, including:

•One fully automatic assault rifle, a loaded (“unpinned”) 75-round drum magazine, and loaded (“unpinned”) 40-round magazine

•Another assault rifle that was converted to fire fully automatic

•One sub-machine gun with 32-round “unpinned” magazine and ammunition

•32 Glock auto switches (prohibited devices)

•Seven “silencers” (sound suppressors)

•Numerous “unpinned” and “pinned” magazines with ammunition

The search of his residence in Langley resulted in the seizure of:

•One semi-automatic rifle

•Books on constructing silencers

•Baffles used in the making of silencers

•Approximately 10 “silencers” (sound suppressors)

•30-round Glock magazine (“pinned” at 10 rounds)

A search of his nearby workshop in Langley resulted in officers locating the lathe that investigators believe Friesen was allegedly using to manufacture silencers, various firearms parts, and ammunition.

Police say they also seized a total of approximately 2,500 rounds of various calibres of ammunition was also seized from the various locations.

Friesen has been charged with two counts of weapons trafficking; two counts of possession of prohibited weapons for the purpose of trafficking; one count of importing or exporting weapons knowing them to be prohibited; one count of importing or exporting parts designed for use in the manufacturing or assembly into an automatic firearm knowing it is unauthorized; and two counts of possessing weapons contrary to a court prohibition order.

The court ordered the lifetime firearms ban after Friesen was charged with attempted murder in Penticton in 2003.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times