On January 27, 2024, at approximately 3:45 am, the Manitoba RCMP Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET) received information from the United States Border Patrol (USBP) of a group of unknown individuals walking northbound along a rail line towards the Canadian border near Emerson.
The individuals were noted to be wearing proper winter clothing and likely to cross into Canada within the hour.
Officers from IBET attended to the area and conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle, located at the intersection of PR 201 and PR 200 near Dominion City, which was registered to a rental car company.
The vehicle contained a driver and seven male occupants (aged 49,44,37,34,33,28,27) who were confirmed to be foreign nationals from the Republic of Chad.
The 49-year-old male driver, Saleh Youssouf, from Calgary, was arrested for human smuggling under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and remanded into custody where he appeared in court in Winnipeg on January 29, 2024.
The other seven individuals were arrested under the Customs Act and turned over to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) Immigration officers at the Emerson Port of Entry.
RCMP, along with the Canada Border Services Agency, continue to investigate.
