African migrants paid thousands to smuggler: claim

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This article was published 19/07/2024 (414 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A group of African migrants picked up by RCMP after they were smuggled into Canada this year paid a steep price to cross over from the United States.

A recent court filing reveals the migrants each paid between $9,000 and $12,000 to persons unknown to be taken from the Republic of Chad, in north-central Africa, to Canada.

RCMP said this winter that a traffic officer pulled over a van on McGillivray Boulevard in Winnipeg early on Feb. 22.

RCMP arrested the driver, 30-year-old Abdi Hassan Ali, who has since been charged with human smuggling. Eight passengers — seven from Chad and one from the Republic of Mali, in west Africa — were in the van. Chad has been in political crisis since its longtime president was killed in 2021.

The seven men and one woman were turned over to the Canada Border Services Agency for processing, while Ali was taken into police custody.

The province’s director of civil forfeiture filed a lawsuit in the Court of King’s Bench on Wednesday seeking to keep Ali’s blue 2020 Kia Sedona and the $2,300 in U.S. cash allegedly hidden in his sock when arrested.

The statement of claim reveals new details of the smuggling operation Ali is accused of participating in, and of his arrest. It states Ali was spotted sitting in another vehicle near the Emerson border crossing in October 2023. He claimed to Mounties who questioned him that he was in the area to “pick up friends.”

Mounties again spotted Ali near the border on Jan. 24, “at a time when a known human-smuggling event was occurring.” He was arrested in relation to a smuggling probe but was released without being charged.

RCMP spotted the van heading north on Highway 3 from the Canada-U.S. border at about 2 a.m. on Feb. 22, the court filing claims. RCMP pulled the van over when the driver allegedly travelled over the speed limit.

Each of the passengers gave the officers identification. Ali told RCMP he was an Uber driver taking the passengers to “the shelter,” the claim alleges, and he was let go.

Traffic police checked and discovered Ali had earlier been investigated amid the January smuggling probe. Police followed the van to Winnipeg and pulled it over. They arrested Ali and took the passengers into custody.

The claim states Ali told RCMP he had picked up the men in Blumenort, where they had been hiding in a farm shed for 15 days, but the passengers had documents indicating they had arrived in Minneapolis between Feb. 15 and Feb. 20.

Changes to the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement made last year mean people who walk into either country between ports of entry are to be turned back if found within 14 days of their arrival.

The passengers, through an interpreter, told police they had been dropped off at the U.S. border and given Ali’s phone number to get transport into Canada, the claim states.

The migrants also revealed the cost of their travel and said Ali made up the story about Blumenort, advising them to “stick to it” if asked, the court filing claims.

It is unclear whether the eight passengers were deported to the U.S. or allowed to make asylum claims here.

Limited exceptions in the amended Safe Third Country Agreement allow a person to remain in the country they entered while a claim is considered.

Winnipeg immigration lawyer Alastair Clarke said in February some people from Chad have decided to seek refugee protection in Canada because of its francophone population and because it is viewed as more welcoming than other countries. French is one of Chad’s official languages.

Clarke made those comments after an earlier group of seven migrants from Chad were picked up by RCMP and transferred to border agents in late January. A Calgary man, 49-year-old Saleh Youssouf, was charged with human smuggling in that case.

RCMP found four men from Chad who had crossed the border near Emerson in December. One suffered serious injuries in the cold weather.

A family of four from India froze to death in a snow-packed field while trying to walk into the U.S. just east of Emerson in a blizzard in January 2022.

Jagdish Patel, 39, his wife, Vaishaliben, 37, their daughter, Vihangi, 11, and son, Dharmik, 3, were found dead just metres from the border. The Patels were trying to emigrate to the U.S., where they have family.

The RCMP and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol began reporting a spike in crossings after COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions started to ease.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Erik Pindera
Reporter

Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020.  Read more about Erik.

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