Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service | A water patrol in the path of smugglers

The Mohawk Police Service of Akwesasne will soon be able to patrol permanently in Quebec waters on its territory. But given the particular geographical location of the community, straddling the United States, Ontario and Quebec, this represents quite a challenge, as was able to see The Press.

TEXT: Vincent Larin
The Press

Photos: Dominick Gravel
The Press

Sun beating down, the water is calm. Sergeant David Thompson cranks the outboard motors to full speed, and the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service patrol boat pulls away east. The banks of the St. Lawrence River parade.

On the left, Cornwall, Ontario, population 47,000, a succession of disparate houses. On the right, the county of Dundee, in Quebec, with its few buildings through agricultural fields. Between the two, a series of islands, some uninhabited, others furnished with several chalets.

With its 37 km of coastline, from the American border to Pointe-Leblanc, and its 57 islands, the territory under the responsibility of the Mohawk police of Akwesasne represents quite a challenge to monitor.

It is a place of choice for smugglers who wish to bring their illegal shipments into the province, which they hide in caches, by boat in the summer and by snowmobile in the winter.

In 2010, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police wrote in a report on border security that “the unique geographic location of Akwesasne Territory […] continues to strain law enforcement agencies of various jurisdictions, on both sides of the border.”

On the Ontario side, the patrol boat passes by Hamilton Island, the most populated in the community and the only one connected to the mainland. “In the fall, when the cabins are empty, the smugglers will try to unload their stock there. We rely on people who live there year-round to call us,” said Akwesasne Mohawk Police Chief Shawn Dulude.

Traffic of all kinds

Employed by the Akwesasne police for three years after having worked for the police service of the Mohawk Tribe of Saint-Régis, just across the border, David Thompson has seen the evolution of smuggling in the area.

In addition to the weapons purchased in the United States and then transported illegally north of the border, many drugs transit through the waters located opposite Akwesasne. “For cannabis, smugglers often go the other way, from Canada to the United States, because it’s much cheaper on the north side of the border,” says David Thompson.

“What we are seeing more and more is human trafficking,” he adds, referring to the many irregular migrants who enter Canada through the maritime borders, near Akwesasne. “Sometimes we intercept them, they are complete families, the father, the mother and the children. »

David Thompson says that during certain interventions, the smugglers try to flee the police and force the migrants to jump into the water, to reach the bank on the side of the United States.

After dismounting, the sergeant looks away where an anonymous boat is sailing at high speed. “You never know, if it is, it is a smuggler,” he says.

Constant patrols

Sign that Akwesasne is an important cog in the strategy of Quebec to fight against the proliferation of crime by firearm, the Minister of Public Security went there in early June.

Geneviève Guilbault then announced the allocation of $6.2 million over 5 years so that the police force could obtain another patrol boat and hire 5 new officers. The goal: to permanently monitor the Quebec border in the Mohawk community.

“Beyond this buoy, we can do nothing more, it is under American responsibility”, launches Shawn Dulude, showing the floating object located just in front of the Quebec part of the Mohawk community. To starboard is the mouth of the Saint-Régis River, whose source is in the United States.

Build relationships

The small team arrives at the Mohawk Cultural Camp on Thompson Island, where there is a self-sufficient summer camp where young people from the community come to spend a few days.

Shawn Dulude is here Wednesday to meet with Akwesasne Police Community Officer Norman King. With his colleague from the community of Saint-Régis, he will spend a week in another holiday camp, just on the other side of the border.

“It’s the perfect opportunity to meet young people, to explain our role to them,” explains Norman King. Today I’m in a t-shirt, I’m having a good time, but tomorrow I’m going to be in uniform to explain things to them”, he explains, stressing the importance of his work with “everything we see who is discrediting the police”.

Also a sign of the interest shown by other police forces in what is being done in Akwesasne, the head of the Régie intermunicipale de police Thérèse-De Blainville, Francis Lanouette, was on board the boat driven by Sergeant David Thompson on Wednesday.

The purpose of his visit: to establish a partnership with the Akwesasne Police Service. The project called “wampum”, named after the belts used by Aboriginal groups to conclude alliances and treaties with other nations, so that the two police forces exchange officers, the time of an immersion course.

Shawn Dulude says he is well aware of the challenges that this increased responsibility represents for the police force under his direction.

“We have a role to play [dans la lutte contre le trafic d’armes à feu], it’s our territory, we’re an aboriginal police service established 25 years ago, we’re the ones who provide service, we’re the ones who patrol and ensure the safety of boaters. If we are not part of the solution, it will not be the same and we have realized that, ”he explains.