MONTRÉAL, Thursday, November 29, 2007 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and its partners arrested alleged human smugglers operating in two separate organizations with no apparent connection other than the fact that they both smuggled migrants through Canada on their way to their final destination which was the United States. The alleged offenders face charges of human smuggling and conspiracy for the purpose of human smuggling.
In a first case, officers of the RCMP Greater Toronto Area Immigration and Passport Section arrested, a little over a week ago, four suspects in response to a claim for extradition by the American judicial authorities. The individuals arrested are: Chol Min Jang, 49, Seonee Jang, 44, Sang Hoon Lee, 25, all Toronto residents, and Jun Park, 50, of Windsor, Ontario.
The investigation revealed that these individuals purportedly facilitated the illegal entry of migrants into the United States through wooded areas along the border between Quebec and Vermont. The suspect organization is believed to have used this tactic thirteen times over a two-year period.
In the second case, three individuals, Jose Manuel Galdamez-Serrano, Ruben Damas-Hernandez, Norvin Gonzalez-Morales, who allegedly smuggled migrants into the United States were arrested in Canada by the investigators of the Stanstead Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET). They will face extradition to answer charges in the United States.
Two other related individuals were also arrested by the RCMP Montréal Immigration and Passport Section. They are Marcos Gonzalez and Patricia Sorgente. Based on the investigation, these suspects, accused in Canada, allegedly facilitated the illegal entry of more than a hundred migrants into the United States over a three-year period using different locations in the Stanstead region.
For these investigations, RCMP Montréal and Toronto Immigration and Passport Sections, Stanstead and Niagara IBETs, RCMP Estrie Detachment and Canada Border Services Agency officers co-operated with the US Border Patrol, Department of Homeland Security, and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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For information:
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