US, Canadian Cops Smash Human Smuggling Rings
Jim Kouri, CPP
April 15, 2006
US and Canadian law enforcement smashed a human trafficking ring which they say transported South Asian immigrants into the US. US federal court documents allege that the Vancouver-based ring was paid upwards of $30,000 per illegal alien to smuggle them into the US across the Canadian border.
Four men, including the alleged ringleader, have been taken into custody by law enforcement officers.
According to police reports, officers were successful in infiltrating the criminal group and observed them transporting and smuggling 50 Pakistanis and Indians through Canada into the US over the past year.
Canadian police reported that South Asian citizens were being flown into Toronto on false passports and then transported to Vancouver where they were hidden in suburban homes.
Then the ring chose deserted locations along the border and shuttled the illegal migrants into the US, according to reports.
Court documents say immigrants or their "sponsors" paid the smugglers between $20,000 -- $35,000 per trip. Four men, including a Canadian national whom law enforcement describes as the ringleader, have been formally arrested in Vancouver, where police say the operation was based.
At least eight other arrests have been identified and are living in Canada or the US state of Washington.
Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, security at the border between Canada and the US has been tightened, but it is the world's longest international border and much of it lies in remote or agricultural land so it can be very hard for border agents to patrol.
In another US-Canadian operation earlier this year, more than 50 people, men, women and children from the same two countries had paid a crime gang $40,000 to reach US shores, according to reports from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. in that case, twelve men were arrested and charged in both countries. Two more are believed to be on the run in Canada or the Northwest United States.
"The organized network was not interested in knowing who they smuggled. In most cases, they did not know, so that's a national security concern," according to a joint statement.
The joint Canada-US investigation began in January 2005 after US authorities nabbed three men in the US border town Oroville in Washington state on the Pacific coast with area maps and who had questioned locals about border security.
Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country.
Four men, including the alleged ringleader, have been taken into custody by law enforcement officers.
According to police reports, officers were successful in infiltrating the criminal group and observed them transporting and smuggling 50 Pakistanis and Indians through Canada into the US over the past year.
Canadian police reported that South Asian citizens were being flown into Toronto on false passports and then transported to Vancouver where they were hidden in suburban homes.
Then the ring chose deserted locations along the border and shuttled the illegal migrants into the US, according to reports.
Court documents say immigrants or their "sponsors" paid the smugglers between $20,000 -- $35,000 per trip. Four men, including a Canadian national whom law enforcement describes as the ringleader, have been formally arrested in Vancouver, where police say the operation was based.
At least eight other arrests have been identified and are living in Canada or the US state of Washington.
Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, security at the border between Canada and the US has been tightened, but it is the world's longest international border and much of it lies in remote or agricultural land so it can be very hard for border agents to patrol.
In another US-Canadian operation earlier this year, more than 50 people, men, women and children from the same two countries had paid a crime gang $40,000 to reach US shores, according to reports from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. in that case, twelve men were arrested and charged in both countries. Two more are believed to be on the run in Canada or the Northwest United States.
"The organized network was not interested in knowing who they smuggled. In most cases, they did not know, so that's a national security concern," according to a joint statement.
The joint Canada-US investigation began in January 2005 after US authorities nabbed three men in the US border town Oroville in Washington state on the Pacific coast with area maps and who had questioned locals about border security.
Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country.
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