A man accused of aiding in people smuggling across the US-Canada border was warned of blizzard conditions before arranging for a family of four to cross the border in 2022, prosecutors claim. There is. His parents and two young children froze to death.
Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 28, who prosecutors say operated under the alias “Dirty Harry,” is scheduled to appear in federal court in Minnesota on Wednesday on seven charges of human smuggling. A man who allegedly hired Indian nationals to drive them from the Canadian border to the Chicago area also faces four charges, according to a new indictment unsealed last week.
The driver, Steve Shand, of Deltona, Florida, was arrested and charged with human smuggling two years ago. He has pleaded not guilty and is a free man on his own recognizance. Litigation in his case has been put on hold several times.
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In recent court documents, agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Patel had been denied a U.S. visa at least five times, four times at the U.S. consulate in India and once in Ottawa, Canada. He said his application was rejected at the U.S. Consulate. The agent said he is in the United States illegally.
Patel’s name did not come up until he was arrested in Chicago last month on a sealed warrant issued last September. Defense attorney Thomas Leinenweber said in an email that Patel will plead not guilty on Wednesday. He did not elaborate.
Unsealed court documents linked Patel to a human trafficking ring based in the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat. The group allegedly intended to allow Indian nationals to enter Canada on student visas and then move them to the Chicago area.
According to court documents, the migrants work for substandard wages in Indian restaurants while paying off debts to smugglers.
Prosecutors allege Shand was driving a rented 15-passenger van when he was stopped by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Minnesota, just south of the Canadian border, on January 19, 2022. The van was carrying two Indian nationals who had entered the United States illegally from Gujarat. Meanwhile, five other people were seen walking nearby. They told officers they had been walking for more than 11 hours in temperatures well below zero Fahrenheit, according to court documents.
One person was hospitalized with serious cold-related injuries.
The men in the group told authorities they paid the equivalent of about $87,000 to be smuggled into the United States. She also had a backpack with children’s clothes and diapers, but there were no children in the group.
A border sign between the United States and Canada is visible just outside Emerson, Manitoba. A man is accused of helping smuggle an Indian family who were frozen while crossing the Canada-U.S. border. (John Woods/Canadian Press via AP, File)
The man told authorities he was transporting goods for a family of four, including a young child, but all of them separated from the group during the night. Later that day, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found four people dead just 90 feet from the border near Emerson, Manitoba.
“Please make sure everyone is dressed appropriately for blizzard conditions,” Shand told Patel, according to a series of messages sent via WhatsApp. Patel replied, “It’s over.” Then Mr. Shand said, “We haven’t lost a penny.”
The victim was identified as Jagdish Patel, 39. his wife Vaishaliben (34); My 11 year old daughter Vihangi. He and his three-year-old son Dharmik are all from Dhingcha village in Gujarat. It is not clear whether they are related to the defendants as Patel is a common name in India.
Jagdish Patel and his wife, who were educated and worked as teachers, moved to the United States in search of a better life, relatives said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said their deaths were “shocking.”
The victims faced not only bitter cold but also flat, open fields. Mounted police said there were large snowdrifts and darkness. They were wearing warm clothing, but that alone did not save them.
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According to court filings made public last month, Shand first met Harshkumar Patel, also known as “Dirty Harry,” at Patel’s gaming facility in Orange City, Florida. He is said to have told officials.
Shand said Patel initially tried to recruit him to pick up Indian nationals who were trying to cross the U.S.-Canada border illegally in New York. Shand said he declined, but he agreed to pick up someone else in Minnesota.
Shand said Patel paid a total of about $25,000 for five trips to the border in December 2021 and January 2022. Shand said he dropped off passengers at an Indian supermarket in Chicago, wealthy homes in the Chicago area and suburban homes. Chicago motel.
