Military mum on theft of assault rifle, equipment

Canada’s special forces can’t explain how one of its commandos allegedly walked off with a generator, assault rifle parts and other equipment from its stockpile worth more than $23,000 but it has restricted the duties of the soldier in question.

Cpl. Pedro Collier, a member of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command based in Ottawa, has been charged with one count of theft over $5,000, one count of possession of property obtained by crime, one count of possession of a prohibited device, one count of trafficking in stolen goods and one count of breach of trust.

The charges have not been proven in court.

Maj. Alexandre Cadieux, a spokesman for the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, would not say whether the command has further tightened its security over its equipment stocks. But the Canadian special forces leadership was warned back in 2012 that it wasn’t properly tracking its equipment, according to a Department of National Defence audit. At that time one of the special forces units couldn’t account for $8 million to $10 million in gear and auditors warned more work needed to ensure equipment was properly catalogued in the military inventory system.