RCMP released information today about an arrest at the Emerson border crossing on September 28.
According to their release, at about 10:35 in the evening on the 28th, RCMP Federal Policing Northwest Region’s Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET) in Manitoba, working with counterparts from the United States Border Patrol, became aware of a border incursion happening approximately seven kilometres east of Emerson, Manitoba, near Road 18 East.
RCMP searched the area and found an SUV with “numerous people” in it and luggage. During the resulting traffic stop, they said they determined that human smuggling was taking place.
Police arrested six people under the Customs Act and the driver was arrested for human smuggling. All were transported to the Emerson RCMP Detachment. Of the people arrested, one man was from the Republic of Sudan, two men and one woman were from the Republic of Chad, one man was from Mauritania, and one man was identified as a Permanent Resident of Canada.
Semere Haile, 42, from Winnipeg, was arrested and charged with human smuggling contrary to section 117 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. He was released at the direction of Public Prosecution Service of Canada on several conditions and attended Winnipeg Provincial Court on October 7, 2024.
The six people arrested under the Customs Act were all handed over to the Canada Border Services Agency for processing.
“Crossing the Canada and United States border between the ports of entry is not only an illegal act, but a dangerous one,” said Sergeant Lance Goldau, head of IBET in Manitoba. “For everyone’s safety, we continue to work closely with our United States counterparts to stop incursions at the border.”
