Three men in Quebec accused of smuggling people from the U.S. into Canada

MONTREAL — The RCMP say three men in Quebec have been charged for helping to smuggle people into Canada from the United States.

During two separate events last year, the three men were intercepted in vehicles near the U.S. border in the Montérégie region southwest of Montreal, allegedly waiting to pick up people who had crossed into Canada illegally.

Muhammet Akca, 41, is charged with conspiring to facilitate the illegal crossing of several people in 2024 and is scheduled to appear in court in Valleyfield, Que., on March 3. Adrian Jose Herrera Tabares, 34, and Frangeli Coromoto Guzman Espinoza, 28, are facing charges under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and are scheduled to appear in court on April 25.

Akca was intercepted May 1 in Ormstown, Que., about 50 kilometres from Montreal. Cpl. Martina Pillarova, an RCMP spokesperson, said police identified a suspicious vehicle with two people inside, including Akca, who was driving. Around the same time, they heard from the U.S. border patrol that a group of migrants was trying to cross illegally into Canada at an unguarded point along the border.

Pillarova said the subsequent investigation revealed that Akca was allegedly involved in four other border-related cases between January and April 2024. He was charged on Jan. 13. The other passenger is still under investigation.

It can take time to lay charges in these types of cases, Pillarova said, because police have to prove that the suspects were waiting to pick up migrants. “It is not illegal to be close to the border, to be in a car by the border. If you’re not doing anything illegal, there is very little that the investigators can do,” she said. “So to be able to prove intent, it’s a little bit more complicated.”

Tabares and Espinoza were arrested on Nov. 15 in a vehicle in Franklin, Que., just south of Ormstown. They were apprehended after cameras along the border detected two migrants crossing illegally into Canada in the area. The two men had allegedly been planning to pick them up.

The RCMP say 13 other investigations related to illegal crossings led to charges at the Valleyfield courthouse in 2024. Pillarova said five of those crossings were northbound and eight were southbound, but there have not yet been any convictions.

She said there has not been an increase in illegal migration since U.S. President Donald Trump won the Nov. 5 election on a promise of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. “We are constantly verifying and looking at the situation at the border,” she said. “And if ever there is an influx of migrants, we have a plan in place and we’re going to be able to deal with that.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2025.

Maura Forrest, The Canadian Press