Migrants charged, another convicted

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the RCMP issued a pair of press releases a week apart in March, one announcing the arrest of three migrants and another the conviction of a man court found was involved in human smuggling.

In a March 13 news release RCMP say it was thanks to community help that they tracked down three people who snuck into Canada from the U.S.

On March 10, the RCMP’s Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET) was notified at 8 a.m. that two possible migrants were travelling on foot along Highway 201 near Neuenberg, a village south of Winkler.

Police found the migrants at what they stated was “the hospital” though the closest hospital would be Boundary Trails Health Centre at 18 km away. They did not say how the men made it there but said it was confirmed they had crossed into Manitoba from the United States. They were both treated for minor cold-related injuries and released into custody.

While attending the health centre at 9:40 a.m., police were called and told another possible migrant had attended a business in Rosengart, asking for transportation to Winnipeg. IBET used support from the RCMP’s Black Hawk helicopter, to find the suspect in an unlocked parked vehicle.

At about noon, they received a call of a suspicious male loitering outside a school in the Rhineland area. Police arrived and arrested him for human smuggling.

Two-year prison sentence issued

On March 19, 32-year-old U.S. citizen Sahil Aziz was sentenced to 34 months in prison (with two years remaining) for his involvement in human smuggling and smuggling into Canada credit card data possessed fraudulently.

This dated back to a Feb. 7, 2025, incident.

Aziz then attempted to cross the border at Emerson.

Border services officers searched his vehicle and found multiple identity documents including one belonging to someone else, as well as a suitcase and cell phone that did not belong to him.

Officers soon discovered that one other person was with Aziz before he attempted to cross the border.

After getting a search warrant, they also found what they called a large quantity of stolen credit card data.

He was charged on Feb. 18, 2025 and has been in custody since his arrest.