4:36 a.m., on the night of January 2nd to 3rd, 2019. It is snowing in Dundee. The mercury shows -13°C.
Published at 1:27 am. Updated at 5:00 am.
While patrolling near the Canada-US border, RCMP police officers Gabriel Mathieu and Jeremy Reddick receive a call from the federal police dispatcher in Montreal informing them that a detector has been activated and suspicious movement has been reported in a wooded area Montée Rennie, in Hinchinbrooke, about forty kilometers to the east.
On scene, police discovered a Cadillac stuck in a ditch on Chemin de la 1re-Concession near Main Street.
Gabriel Mathieu approaches the vehicle with his flashlight. There are two men on board. The passenger's pants are wet up to his knees. He took off his boots, which were also soaked, and placed them in front of him. The two men have no identification papers.
PHOTO PROVIDED
On the morning of January 3, 2019, the footprints of three or four people on their way to the USA were visible in Hinchinbrooke.
PHOTO PROVIDED
Only one person's footprints indicated that they had returned to Canada that night.
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Later, the police discovered the footprints of three or four people in the snow who were on their way to the USA. Traces indicate that only one returned to Canada. The prints match the soles of the passenger's boots.
The Cadillac, which is still equipped with summer tires, was purchased on Kijiji in the days before.
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The tracks in the snow matched the summer tires the Cadillac still had.
The two inmates are accused of conspiracy and smuggling or smuggling people without status into the United States outside of the country's checkpoints.
In pleading guilty, defense attorney Me Alexandre Paradis and Quebec court judge Bertrand St-Arnaud were surprised by an accusation they had never seen before.
“It will come up in court more and more often. At the moment things are going quite well, I would tell you that,” explained the federal prosecutor Me Marie-Ève Parent.
She didn't think it was said well…
From North to south
In 2018, authorities began noticing that residents of other countries, sometimes arriving at Trudeau Airport just hours earlier, were illegally crossing the American border from Quebec, particularly in areas of Champlain and Valleyfield counties.
Of those people who want to come to the U.S. for a variety of reasons, about 50% are from Mexico, 40% are from India and 10% are from other countries, according to the RCMP.
The phenomenon increased when the visa requirement for Mexicans to enter Canada was abolished in 2016. They would rather enter the United States from the north than the south because the border there is less guarded and transit is easier and safer.
According to RCMP statistics, between January 1, 2023 and today, 5,038 migrants who had crossed the border illegally or were preparing to cross the border were intercepted on the American and Canadian sides, in the Champlain sector alone.
“Every week, the Americans intercept between 200 and 250 migrants crossing the border in the Dundee sector,” says Pierre Massé, superintendent and head of the border integrity program for Division C (Quebec) of the Royal Gendarmerie from Canada.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Pierre Massé, Border Integrity Program Superintendent for Detachment C of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
In Quebec territory, the number of interceptions is lower – we were unable to obtain accurate statistics – but often, based on information provided by the RCMP, US Customs and Border Protection officers manage to intercept the migrants who have irregularly crossed our border with the United States Conditions.
The shadow of the cartels
Since the closure of Roxham Road last spring, migrant arrivals in Quebec continue to increase as they now arrive by plane, La Presse reports.
On the other hand, overland immigration from the United States to Quebec has become rarer due to an agreement between countries that makes it virtually impossible for migrants who once arrived in large numbers to be accepted into Canada.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Strip of deforested land marking the Canada-US border near the Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle border crossing
“The land movement north [northbound] has practically fallen to zero. It varies from week to week, but a family of four is now rare. We're talking less than ten people per week. Recently we even had zero statistics,” explains Superintendent Pierre Massé.
But the movement we observed northward is now happening southward.
Migrants pay up to a few thousand dollars each to cross the border. And wherever there is money to be made, organized crime is never far away.
“A new trend we are seeing is individuals linked to Mexican cartels facilitating the passage of migrants to the United States. How important is your commitment? It's hard to say because it's new to us. We have ongoing investigations and strategic intelligence services are working on it,” announces Mr. Massé.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
RCMP say migrants would prefer to enter the United States from the north rather than the south because the border there is less policed and passage is easier and safer.
Smugglers, a priority
The RCMP also wants to take advantage of the fact that the rush north on Roxham Road has ended its border force's monopoly.
“During Roxham we were very reactive. But now that things are going wrong, we are maximizing our investigations and everything related to smuggling is a priority,” says the commissioner.
Staff assigned to reception in Roxham can now rely on monitoring, investigations and training, allowing them to be more proactive.
Pierre Massé, Border Integrity Program Superintendent for Detachment C of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Department C, which has a control room at its Westmount headquarters that receives signals from motion detectors and projects images from border surveillance cameras on a screen, also wants to improve this essential component.
“In 2023, we have further developed our surveillance with technological means that will be even more pronounced in the future. It really is the future of the program,” says Mr. Massé.
Not easy to blame
But it is not easy to intercept migrants trying to cross the border illegally, to catch smugglers in the act before or during the crime, to arrest them and, above all, to charge them.
The border is long and so are the distances. By the time the police arrive at the scene of a report, it is often too late. There are no longer any passengers in the vehicle of the driver suspected of being a smuggler. It runs on the territory of Quebec. No violation was found. You need a reason to stop him and search his vehicle.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESS ARCHIVE
Overland imports from the United States to Quebec have become rare because the Safe Third Country Agreement applies along the entire border.
In the case mentioned above, cell phones were confiscated. Their analysis was fruitful but time-consuming. And migrants who crossed the border irregularly are now in the United States. They were not found. Neither did those pulling the strings, a certain Will and a certain Bazooko, whose pseudonyms appeared in text messages.
One of the two defendants – both residents of Quebec – was sentenced to six months in prison (he had a long criminal history), and the other was sentenced to 18 months probation.
Since 2019, a total of seven people suspected of being smugglers have been charged with conspiracy or with smuggling or attempting to smuggle migrants into the United States – Section 465 of the Criminal Code of Canada and Section 117 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Four of them are Quebec citizens and the others are from Ontario, presumably because migrants seeking to cross the border irregularly also arrive through Toronto Pearson Airport. Six out of seven defendants are of Latin origin.
While the maximum sentence is ten years, five of them received prison sentences of between six months and 18 months on probation and 150 hours of community service. For two of them, the case is still before the court.
“We have rules of the game and we apply the law, but I always say: 'Is there room for improvement in the existing laws in all respects?' The answer is clearly “yes,” believes Superintendent Pierre Massé.
Avoid human tragedies
On December 15, the body of a pregnant Mexican woman who had crossed the border illegally was found near Champlain and Roxham Road in the United States.
A year ago, a Haitian man died after becoming lost in a storm near Roxham Road. Others drowned in the river's waters near Akwesasne last March.
C Division gendarmes have conducted four rescue operations in recent weeks for migrants attempting to cross the border irregularly, and the RCMP is also looking to improve its training and equipment in this regard.
“These are human tragedies that we want to avoid,” concludes Mr. Massé.
To contact Daniel Renaud, call 514 285-7000, extension 4918, write to [email protected] or write to La Presse's mailing address.
Some Achievements of the Border Integrity Program in 2023
Seizure of 687 kilograms of methamphetamine from Quebec, Australia
Seizure of 156 kilograms of cocaine in Quebec destined for Australia
Seizure of 4,000 kilograms of opium destined for the rest of Canada
C-Division's collaboration with a group of South American police forces tasked with detecting sailboats carrying drugs