A Winnipeg man has been charged with human smuggling after a vehicle with five foreign nationals from Africa inside was pulled over east of Emerson late last month.
The RCMP’s regional integrated border enforcement team, working with counterparts from the U.S. Border Patrol, became aware of people crossing into Canada about seven kilometres east of Emerson, near Road 18 East, at about 10:35 p.m. on Sept. 28.
Patrolling officers stopped an SUV with luggage visible inside in the general area.
Six passengers were arrested under the Customs Act. Three — two men and a woman — are from Chad. Two others, both men, are from Mauritania and Sudan. Another man is a permanent resident of Canada. The six people ranged in age from 30 to 53.
All seven people were taken to the Emerson RCMP detachment. The six people arrested under the Customs Act were handed over to the Canada Border Services Agency for processing.
The driver — Semere Haile, 42, of Winnipeg — was arrested for human smuggling. He was released from custody, with several conditions, and had a court date in Winnipeg on Monday.
“Crossing the Canada and United States border between the ports of entry is not only an illegal act, but a dangerous one,” Sgt. Lance Goldau, head of the border enforcement team in Manitoba, said in a news release Wednesday.
“For everyone’s safety, we continue to work closely with our United States counterparts to stop incursions at the border.”
A Somali national living in Winnipeg was charged with human smuggling after a vehicle with eight foreign nationals from Africa inside was pulled over west of the Gretna border crossing on Aug. 22.
A Winnipeg man was charged this winter after a vehicle with eight foreign nationals from Africa inside was pulled over in Winnipeg. RCMP stopped the vehicle on McGillivray Boulevard on Feb. 22.
A Calgary man was charged with human smuggling after he allegedly picked up seven men from Chad who walked across the border near Emerson on Jan. 27.
Four men from Chad were found by RCMP after crossing the border near Emerson in December. One suffered weather-related injuries.
A family of four from India froze to death in a field east of Emerson while trying to walk into the U.S. in January 2022.
Changes made to the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement in 2023 mean people who walk into either country between ports of entry are to be turned back if they are found within 14 days of their arrival.
fpcity@freepress.mb.ca