By Canadian Press

Human smugglers used B.C. freight trains to move people across border, U.S. says

May 28, 2024 | 5:38 PM

VANCOUVER — The U.S. Department of Justice says two men are facing human smuggling charges in Seattle for their alleged role in what it calls a dangerous scheme to transport people out of British Columbia and across the border on freight trains.

U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington Tessa Gorman says Jesus Ortiz-Plata, 45, of Oregon and Juan Pablo Cuellar Medina, 35, of Washington were arrested last week, along with three non-citizens who were allegedly smuggled out of Canada.

Gorman says Ortiz-Plata and Medina employed “an extremely dangerous smuggling scheme,” and that in one case last August, 29 people were rescued from a freight car filled with plastic pellets.

An affidavit by a U.S. Homeland Security officer says 28 were Mexican nationals and one was Colombian guiding the group, whose presence was noticed around 1 a.m. when border officers saw anomalies in an X-ray of the car.

Court documents outlining the charges filed in Seattle on Friday say Ortiz-Plata and Medina came to the attention of investigators last July, after Border Patrol agents identified a phone number associated with “numerous human smuggling events” through Blaine, Wash., dating back to September 2022.

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The Homeland Security investigator’s affidavit says Ortiz-Plata and Medina were arrested on May 23, after being tracked by law enforcement agents to an apartment complex in Everett where they believe the pair picked up non-citizens seeking unlawful entry into the U.S.

“Being locked in a freight train car is dangerous – there is no control over the heat, cold, or ventilation, and people can be injured or killed by shifting freight,” Gorman said in a news release.

Ortiz-Plata and Medina face up to 10 years in prison.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2024.

The Canadian Press