Federal prosecutors in the United States claim an Indian national living in Canada was paid thousands of dollars to smuggle other Indians to the United States through the Akwesasne Mohawk reservation.
Simranjit (Shally) Singh, 40, appeared last Friday in Albany, New York, a day after his extradition from Canada. He was formally charged with six counts of trafficking aliens for profit and three counts of conspiracy to traffic aliens for profit. He is scheduled to appear again Friday in Albany.
This case is unrelated to the death last week of eight people, including four Indian nationals, who were trying to reach the United States illegally by crossing the St. Lawrence River from Akwesasne.
But this appearance highlights the alleged trafficking of people via this Mohawk territory which straddles Montérégie, Ontario and New York State.
Akwesasne Police reported last week that since January they had made 48 interceptions involving 80 people trying to enter the United States illegally — mostly nationals of India and Romania.
A statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York states that the charges against Simranjit Singh stem from “his involvement in the smuggling of Indian nationals from Canada to the United States, via the island of Cornwall and Akwesasne Mohawk Reserve […] between March 2020 and March 2021, at least”.
US prosecutors announced the charges against him in June 2022, alleging that on three separate trips, Singh smuggled six people from Canada into the United States.
“Illegal Immigration Broker”
Simranjit Singh, who lived in Brampton, Ont., is accused of being a “broker” paid by migrants to organize their journey across the border, according to court documents filed in Ontario in the extradition case.
The Ontario Superior Court on August 10 denied Mr. Singh’s bail. Judge James Stribopoulos then declared that the accused would have transported migrants to Cornwall, an Ontario municipality neighboring Akwesasne. From there, “he introduced them to ‘carriers’, whom he recruited and paid, and who, in turn, smuggled them across the St. Lawrence River into the United States.” wrote the judge.
The judgment quotes a migrant arrested by US authorities who says he paid Singh $35,000 to smuggle him to the United States. US authorities told the court others had paid up to $14,000.
A migrant who was arrested by US authorities and who identified Singh from a photograph “reported that his family in India had paid Mr. Singh to smuggle him to the United States,” Judge Stribopoulos said. “During their journey to Cornwall, Mr Singh told him he had no reason to worry and bragged that he had smuggled ‘over 1000’ people into the US. »
“Filed documents suggest Mr. Singh ran a scheme to smuggle illegal migrants into the United States for more than two years,” Judge Stribopoulos wrote. And he persisted in doing so even after some of his subordinates were arrested in connection with the scheme.
“Furthermore, given the reports regarding what he charges illegal migrants and what he pays transporters, Mr. Singh appears to have earned substantial sums of money from this illegal business. The judgment says a carrier who testified in the inquest said Singh paid him between $2,000 and $3,000 for each migrant he transported.
Mr. Singh had lived in Canada since December 2010, but he was subject to a removal order, after his asylum application was rejected in 2011.
Exploited young people
Akwesasne is known to be a transit point for human trafficking and smuggling, due to its strategic location, and police there had reported an increase in human trafficking in the territory in February.
Last week, Mohawk leaders lamented how their community is often exploited by human trafficking rings, after the bodies of eight migrants, including two children, were pulled from the St. Lawrence River.
Akwesasne Mohawk Police Chief Shawn Dulude told reporters that criminal networks often exploit young people in the community looking to make a quick buck.
These networks, Dulude said, know they can “find people in our community who are, to some degree, exploited because of their knowledge of the river and the lay of the land.”
Mohawk police confirmed on Tuesday that a missing Akwesasne man is linked to the discovery of the eight bodies recovered from the river last Thursday and Friday. A small boat belonging to Casey Oakes, 30, was located next to the bodies of the migrants. He was last seen at the helm of the boat on the evening of March 29 and was reported missing the following day.
Akwesasne police said Wednesday they are continuing their search with the help of other police forces, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “A critical part of this investigation is determining whether or not this trip was facilitated by one or more individuals,” Mohawk police said in a statement.