Seventeen individuals sentenced to prison for possession and fraudulent use of passports 

News release

July 21, 2021           Montreal (Quebec)      Canada Border Services Agency

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) plays a pivotal role in ensuring the safety of Canadians across the country. It is a serious offense to use an identity document to contravene the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

A man of Colombian nationality was found guilty, on July 15, 2021, at the Montreal courthouse, of using Mexican passports to contravene IRPA, following a CBSA criminal investigation. He was also convicted of misrepresenting his identity in order to obtain electronic travel authorizations (ETAs) and enter Canada. This is the latest in a series of sentences that were handed, since October 2019, to eleven other men and two women from Colombia, and three men from Peru for similar infractions.

These individuals are suspected of being members of transnational criminal organizations known as South American Theft Groups (SATGs). After entering Canada, most of them committed thefts when they broke and entered homes and businesses.

The following individuals were convicted of various IRPA offenses in court: Carlos Alberto Borrego Pinto, Percy Roger Ortiz Saavedra, Carlos Joel Borrego-Mendoza, Johnny Alexander Villamizar Ruiz, Alvaro Ivan Torres Martinez, Jhon Japro Arias Ariza, Claudia Marcela Pancha Sabogal, John Alexander Paez Cordoba, Christian David Guerrero Montezuma, Leymar Alexander Bayona Rico, William David Corredor Fuentes, John Frady Lopez Salazar, Ricardo Alfonso Mora Parada, Heraldo Serrato Luque, Bertha Yanet Alba Rocha, Javier Reina Camelo, and Ricardo Alexis Gomez Millan.

The investigations also showed that two of the accused individuals, Alexander Villamizar Ruiz, and Ricardo Alfonso Mora Parada returned to Canada illegally using a false identity after being previously deported from Canada

Any offender is subject to penalties up to and including imprisonment sentences to a maximum of 14 years.

To report any suspicious cross-border activity, call our Border Watch Line at 1-888-502-9060 (toll free from Canada and the United States).

Contacts

Media Relations, Canada Border Services Agency

media@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca   

Media Line: 613-957-6500 or 1-877-761-5945

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