Canada to deport ASWJ man who had amassed large cache of weapons

Officials did not immediately confirm when Muhammad Aqeeq Ansari will be deported to Pakistan

OTTAWA: A member of the banned Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat will be deported from Canada to Pakistan next month after he was caught with a cache of firearms, an immigration hearing heard on Monday.

According to the daily National Post, Muhammad Aqeeq Ansari had stockpiled Can$20,000 worth of guns and ammunition in the basement of a Peterborough, Ontario home.

Read: Detention of Pakistani man accused of planning Toronto attack extended

He has lived in Canada since 2007, but was stripped of his permanent residency and ordered his deportation last month.

An immigration and refugee board ruled him inadmissible to Canada on "security grounds" over his membership in the ASWJ, formerly known as Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP).

Seven members of the group were hanged in January for killings, attempted assassinations and an attack on the US consulate in Karachi in 2003.

Read: Canada alleges Pakistani man plotted bombing US consulate in Toronto

The Canadian immigration board was informed by the Canada Border Services Agency on Monday of Ansari's pending deportation. However, officials were not immediately available to confirm his travel schedule.

Meanwhile, another Pakistani national living in the Toronto area, Jahanzeb Malik, tagged in March as a national security threat, is still awaiting a decision on his deportation.

He was accused of plotting to bomb the US consulate and financial buildings in Toronto.

Rather than file charges, authorities took him before the Immigration and Refugee Board to seek his deportation to Pakistan.