Manitoba RCMP charge man with human trafficking

Manitoba RCMP have charged a man with human smuggling after he was allegedly caught picking up a group of migrants attempting to cross the border into Canada last month.

According to the RCMP, officers were alerted to the crossing at 10:30 p.m. on August 22. Eight people were seen walking north from the United States into Canada, west of the Gretna gateway. They were picked up by a man in a rental car.

Officers stopped traffic, arrested the driver and detained the group of eight under the Customs Act.

Of the group arrested under the Customs Act, four men and one woman were from the Republic of Chad, two men from the Republic of Sudan and one woman from the Republic of Guinea. The migrants ranged in age from 19 to 48.

They were turned over to the Canada Border Service Agency for processing.

The driver, a 35-year-old Somali resident of Winnipeg, was charged with human trafficking. He was released on bail and is due back in court in Emerson on October 16. The charge has not yet been proven in court.