Reports that U.S. Customs & Border Protection officers facilitated migrants’ entry into Canada at a now-closed crossing into Quebec are unfounded, the CPB’s professional services oversight office said November 28. Its investigation into “allegations involving CBP employees transporting migrants to the Roxham Road area […] found no wrongdoing.” [node:read-more:link]
Authorities in Hong Kong have extradited to the U.S. a man accused of shuttling sensitive microelectronics into Russia amidst its invasion of Ukraine. Maxim Marchenko, originally from Russia, faces several charges, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to commit wire fraud and smuggling. [node:read-more:link]
Simranjit (Shally) Singh, 41, an Indian national from Brampton arrested in 2022, has pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court in Albany, New York, to human smuggling as part of a network which enabled Indian migrants to cross the border. Sentencing is scheduled for December. [node:read-more:link]
An alleged Russian intelligence officer extradited from Estonia to the U.S. has been detained as a flight risk in New York after pleading not guilty to charges related to smuggling electronics and ammunition to his homeland. [node:read-more:link]
The UN says cocaine demand and supply are booming and methamphetamine trafficking is expanding beyond established markets. In annual report released June 25, it says the number of people taking drugs rose by 23% to 296 million in 2021, the latest year for which data are available, and that only half the increase is due to population growth. [node:read-more:link]
Four Chinese companies as well as eight of their executives and employees are facing U.S. Justice Department charges arising from their role in trafficking materials used to make fentanyl. Attorney General Merrick Garland says the new strategy goes beyond targeting Mexican drug cartels by also pursuing their suppliers. [node:read-more:link]
Two Vancouver residents face extradition to India in connection with the case of four Indian nationals who froze to death last winter while trying to cross into the U.S. from Manitoba. “We need to interview them,” said a deputy police commissioner in Gujurat state. Two other suspected members of a human smuggling operation were arrested earlier this year in India. [node:read-more:link]
U.S. officials say that nine persons detained after illegally crossing from southeastern Manitoba this week were handled by a smuggling ring. After receiving an emergency call from one of the men, RCMP advised U.S. border control. [node:read-more:link]
Forty-two persons face a total of 442 criminal charges in connection with a year-long investigation into cross-border gun trafficking, the Toronto Police Service announced April 11. The joint investigation which involved, among others, the Canada Border Services Agency and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, also resulted in the seizure of 173 firearms. [node:read-more:link]
Documents introduced in a U.S. federal court in New York show that an Ontario resident extradited from Canada for trial, claimed to have smuggled more than 1,000 people into the U.S. Simranjit Singh, an Indian citizen from Brampton, who pleaded not guilty, is accused of trafficking across the border through Akwesasne Mohawk territory, which straddles the St. Lawrence River. [node:read-more:link]
Police confirmed April 4 that they are looking for an Akwesasne man in connection with the drownings of eight migrants whose bodies were recovered from the St. Lawrence River March 31. He was last seen launching a boat on the Quebec side of the cross-border region close to where the bodies were found. [node:read-more:link]
Police in the Askwesasne Mohawk territory confirmed March 31 that the bodies of eight migrants had retrieved from the St. Lawrence River. They have been described as families of Romanian and Indian origin who were likely trying to enter the U.S. through the territory which straddles the Ontario, Quebec and New York borders. [node:read-more:link]
The federal budget plans to improve investigation of money laundering, presumably to chip away at Canada's reputation as a well-documented and particularly-safe haven for the global money laundering criminal element. [node:read-more:link]
A trial arising from the largest “international drug takedown” in Toronto’s history has fallen apart after all charges were stayed. “No reasons for the stay were provided,” the Public Prosecution Service of Canada confirmed March 7, but a defence lawyer said that “a combination of witness issues, disclosure issues and delays in the progress of the proceedings.” Project Brisa’s six-month investigation led to the seizure of more than a tonne of smuggled drugs and a total of 182 charges against 20 persons [node:read-more:link]
Two police operations in eastern Ontario across the St. Lawrence River from New York state have resulted in the arrests of six persons on firearms charges. In one case, the investigation leading to four arrests involved provincial, local and indigenous police services as well as the Canada Border Services Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. [node:read-more:link]
