Two Canadian truck drivers were arrested after they were caught trying to smuggle 11 people from the U.S. into Canada.
It happened on Thursday, September 21st on the Detroit, Michigan side of the Ambassador Bridge.
According to CTV News, a truck driver and his co-driver, both citizens of Quebec, Canada, were attempting to cross the Ambassador Bridge and return to Canada with a shipment of produce when they were taken to secondary clearance.
When asked to verify their declaration, the two truck drivers said that they had been away for 1 week and had only the commercial shipment of produce to declare.
Border service officers then inspected the truck and discovered 11 ‘foreign nationals’ hidden behind a curtain in the sleeper berth of the semi truck.
The two drivers, 42-year-old Paul Ngoue-Ngameleu, and 50-year-old Henadez Makia Mbeh were taken into custody. The 11 people who were hiding in the truck were sent back to the United States.
“This successful interception displays their [Canada Border Services Agency officers] ability to determine when a secondary examination is required and their commitment to ensuring that our borders are not used for illegal activity,” said the CBSA Regional Director General, Rick Comerford.
Ngoue-Ngameleu and Makia-Mbeh were released on bail and are scheduled to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice on October 23rd.
Both men face 11 counts of counseling, 11 counts of misrepresentation and withholding material facts, and 1 count of impeding an officer.