Subject to an extradition request in the United States, Jhader Augusto Uribe-Tobar, an alleged smuggler, appeared Friday morning at the Montreal courthouse, by videoconference, from the Bordeaux prison, where he is detained.
What there is to know
The alleged smuggler Jhader Augusto Uribe-Tobar appeared Friday at the Montreal courthouse.
He could be extradited to the United States for helping a young Mexican woman, who died of drowning, cross the border illegally from Quebec.
The victim’s husband demands justice.
The 35-year-old Colombian is suspected of having organized the clandestine passage to the United States of a 32-year-old pregnant Mexican woman, Ann Karen Vasquez-Flores, whose body was found in a river in New State. York, December 14.
PHOTO FROM TIKTOK
Miguel Mojarro-Magana and his wife, Ann Karen Vasquez-Flores, on the Mount Royal lookout
“I just want justice to be done, please,” he told The Press the victim’s husband, Miguel Mojarro-Magana, on Messenger.
“He left me without my wife and baby,” he added, along with emojis of a pregnant woman, an angel baby and a crying face.
“Please, please”
The accused was arrested in Saint-Hyacinthe in early January by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), at the request of American authorities. He arrived in Canada with his family a year and a half ago, presumably as an asylum seeker.
His pregnant wife was present in the courtroom on Friday. “Don’t write. Don’t write,” she begged in English, leaving the place with water in her eyes. “Please, please. »
The victim, Ann Karen Vasquez-Flores, had come to Montreal with the intention of entering the United States illegally, to find her husband, who held a visa allowing him to be in this country.
He found a smuggler on TikTok, whose pseudonym was Jaime Garcia, and who offered him his services for US$2,500.
PHOTO FROM TIKTOK
Miguel Mojarro-Magana and Ann Karen Vasquez-Flores
Uribe-Tobar is accused of being that smuggler in court documents. He had already been arrested by the RCMP in September 2023 for smuggling four Mexicans to the United States, but he was released.
Fateful day
On December 11, Uribe-Tobar allegedly brought Mme Vasquez-Flores in Montérégie, near the border with New York State, not far from Champlain. He did not accompany his client, and she had to walk alone for two and a half hours to get to her destination. He allegedly guided her from his car with text messages. Until she stopped responding.
Mme Vasquez-Flores drowned in the Chazy River, which she had to cross. It was her husband, who was waiting for her on the other side of the border, who alerted the American authorities. They found his body after three days of searching.
On Friday, at the courthouse, the Crown informed the court that the extradition request had been sent from the United States. “The minister now has 30 days, under the law, to issue the initiating order,” said the prosecutor, Ms.e Lisa Morency.
It is the authorization of the minister which allows the Attorney General to continue the procedures to request extradition.
Me Lisa Morency, Crown prosecutor
A French-Spanish interpreter translated his words for Jhader Augusto Uribe-Tobar, who could be seen on screen.
The case was postponed until April 5. Until then, the defendant will remain behind bars in Bordeaux prison.
Other deaths
The death of Mme Vasquez-Flores joins that of other migrants who have attempted to reach the United States irregularly. On March 31, eight members of two families, one of Indian origin, the other Romanian, drowned in the St. Lawrence River, near the Akwesasne reserve. The Romanian family was threatened with deportation after having their asylum request refused by Canada.
On December 23, 2022, Fritznel Richard, a 44-year-old Haitian, died of hypothermia while trying to travel to the United States, in the middle of a storm, from Montreal. His frozen body was found two weeks later, on January 4, 2023.
More and more migrants are leaving Canada to go to the United States, often at great risk.
“Since 1er October 2023, Border Patrol agents in the Swanton sector apprehended more than 3,100 subjects from 55 countries,” Chief Robert Garcia of the United States Border Patrol in the Swanton sector said on February 2 on X. This sector borders the United States land border with Quebec and Ontario.
With The Canadian Press