Article content
A 42-year-old Winnipeg man was arrested and charged with human smuggling after he was stopped driving an SUV with foreign nationals inside near Emerson, RCMP said.
Article content
The RCMP’s Integrated Border Enforcement Team, working with counterparts from the United States Border Patrol, was made aware of a border incursion about seven kilometres east of Emerson at about 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 28, it said Wednesday in a release.
Officers from multiple RCMP detachments, along with IBET, patrolled the area and saw an SUV with numerous people inside as well as luggage, they said.
Six people ranging in age from 30 to 53 years old were arrested under the Customs Act and handed over to the Canada Border Services Agency for processing. Two men and a woman were from Chad, one man was from Sudan, another man was from Mauritania, and the last was a permanent Canadian resident, RCMP said.
The driver was released at the direction of Public Prosecution Service of Canada on several conditions and attended provincial court in Winnipeg on Oct. 7.
“Crossing the Canada and United States border between the ports of entry is not only an illegal act, but a dangerous one,” said Sgt. Lance Goldau, head of IBET in Manitoba. “For everyone’s safety, we continue to work closely with our United States counterparts to stop incursions at the border.”
Share this article in your social network