CORNWALL – Investigators from the Cornwall Regional Task Force, an RCMP-led inter-agency task force, have broken up a human smuggling ring that centred in the Cornwall area.
The RCMP announced that it had charged eight people involved in the operation – which took migrants and illegally transported them from Canada into the United States across the St. Lawrence River. Four people have been arrested, and warrants have been issued for the other four people identified.
The arrests comes after a two-year investigation, that intensified after the March 2023 deaths of six migrants found in the water after a boat capsized near Akwesasne. Police did not provide more information on that incident as it remains under investigation.
Officials say that more than 100 people were smuggled across the border during the time the operation was underway – most paying thousands to cross.
The individuals the Royal Canadian Mounted Police charged include: Thesingarasan Rasiah (51) and Joel Portillo (38) from Montréal, QC; Justin Rourke (43) and Tionna David (21) from Saint Regis, QC; Shawna Etienne (47) from Kanesatake, QC; Mary June Benedict (48) and Cheyenne Lewis (51) from Akwesasne; and Michael McCormick (47) from Cornwall, ON.