An American man is facing charges after allegedly smuggling a loaded gun into Canada in his truck – only to have it discovered when he took the vehicle in to have a headlight bulb replaced.

The weapon was allegedly found Thursday afternoon in the truck’s engine bay by Tyler Dennis, a mechanic at Beverly Tire in Cambridge.

“I was a little shocked,” Dennis said in an interview.

“I asked a coworker to come over and take a peek with me, to make sure I wasn’t imagining it. We had no idea what to do, because we’ve never dealt with this before.”

While Dennis and his coworkers thought it was best not to raise the issue with the man directly, a call was discreetly placed to police.

Officers caught up with the man at a restaurant further up Hespeler Road.

Insp. Daryl Goetz of Waterloo Regional Police says the 53-year-old man was “co-operative” as police placed him under arrest and seized the weapon.

“We don’t think there was any malice, other than (that) he should have known better than to cross the border with a weapon that’s not lawful in Canada,” Goetz said.

Troy Rome, a Louisiana resident, faces 10 charges relating to importing, transporting and carrying the gun.

Goetz describes the weapon as a semi-automatic Glock 22, which is the same gun used by Waterloo Regional Police officers.

From what police have been able to determine, Goetz says, Rome crossed into Canada from Detroit.

With reporting by Alexandra Pinto