{"id":99216,"date":"2017-04-20T22:41:05","date_gmt":"2017-04-21T02:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=99216"},"modified":"2017-04-20T22:41:05","modified_gmt":"2017-04-21T02:41:05","slug":"u-s-border-patrol-arrests-two-canadians-in-human-smuggling-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/04\/20\/u-s-border-patrol-arrests-two-canadians-in-human-smuggling-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. border patrol arrests two Canadians in human smuggling investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Authorities<\/a>
Authorities in the United States say two Canadian citizens and one person from Nigeria have been apprehended as part of an investigation into human smuggling. (Photo: bergistheword\/Flickr<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

REGINA\u2014Authorities in the United States say two Canadian citizens and one person from Nigeria have been apprehended as part of an investigation into human smuggling.<\/p>\n

The United States Border Patrol says agents picked up the three people last Friday between the North Portal and Northgate crossings, the legal entry points into Saskatchewan from North Dakota.<\/p>\n

It was not immediately clear whether the people are still in custody or if charges have been laid.<\/p>\n

The investigation has already led to the arrest and charges against a Saskatchewan woman.<\/p>\n

Michelle Omoruyi, 43, is charged with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling. She is to appear in court May 15 in Estevan, Sask.<\/p>\n

Omoruyi’s lawyer, Aaron Fox, declined to comment Thursday.<\/p>\n

An investigation into organized human smuggling in southeastern Saskatchewan began last December after Canadian border officers referred a returning male Canadian resident for further examination.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Border Services Agency said there was evidence to suggest smugglers were bringing foreign nationals into Canada from the United States.<\/p>\n

Last Friday, American border authorities identified a suspect in the investigation as he entered the U.S. They notified their Canadian counterparts, who in turn alerted the RCMP \u201cthat a smuggling attempt may be imminent.\u201d<\/p>\n

RCMP said a woman was then stopped on the Canadian side of the border between the North Portal and Northgate crossings, the legal entry points into Saskatchewan from North Dakota.<\/p>\n

Police say nine people from West Africa were in her vehicle, but authorities would not confirm their ages, gender or nationalities.<\/p>\n

They were processed by the Canada Border Services Agency and have been released into Canada. All nine have made refugee claims.<\/p>\n

Getachew Woldyesus, with the Regina Open Door Society, a non-profit organization that provides settlement and integration services to refugees and immigrants in Regina, says the refugees claimants have not yet reached out to the agency.<\/p>\n

Woldyesus says the Regina Open Door Society would help find temporary housing and income support if asked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

REGINA\u2014Authorities in the United States say two Canadian citizens and one person from Nigeria have been apprehended as part of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":96893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1482,16,17],"tags":[18185],"class_list":["post-99216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking","category-news","category-news-w","tag-u-s-border","mauthors-jennifer-graham","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}