Pregnant woman died trying cross U.S.-Canada border after smuggler told her to wade through frigid river, prosecutors say
A man from Canada was arraigned on Thursday on a charge of human smuggling Federal authorities.
The body of Ana Vasquez-Flores of Mexico was found on December 14, 2023 on the Great Chazy River south of the Canadian border, her husband told Our border agent, she has crossed illegally and lost. According to federal authorities, searchers found footprints in the snow leading to the river and she drowned.
Vasquez-Flores’ death was a surge in people passing through New York and New England from Canada. The incident is an example of dangerous immigrants hiking along a wooded and often snowy landscape on the U.S.-Canadian border.
Jhader Augusto Uribe-Tobar, 36, was smuggled into the United States by federal prosecutors for $2,500. and instructed her to dabble in the river in the dark.
Uribe-Tobar pleaded not guilty to federal charges of smuggling and conspiring to commit alien smuggling. He was detained before the trial. Prosecutors said he is a Colombian citizen and lives in Quebec, Canada.
“This tragedy underscores the dangers of illegal immigration and the alleged intentional destruction of smugglers,” U.S. Attorney Carla Freedman said in a prepared preparation. statement.
Carlos Osorio/Reuters
Uribe-Tobar’s federal public defender declined comment in an email. The minimum term for these charges is 3 years and a maximum life imprisonment.
At the time of Vasquez-Flores’ death, U.S. Border Patrol personnel from Swanton’s department near the border reported huge hikes from Canada to the United States CBC Report. March 2024, CBS Boston visits Swanton industryIn the fiscal year 2023, the Border Patrol has arrested a record 7,000 people.
Illegal time travel Continue to soar About 19,000 people were arrested in the fiscal year 2024. This is about the same as the total in the past 17 years. Although, customs and border protection measures indicate that Swanton departments have seen a 52% decrease in encounters since the border crossing in June.
In 2022 The bodies of four peopleincluding babies and a teenager, found in Canada near the U.S. border, which authorities believe was a failed off-road attempt during a snowy snowstorm. The prosecutor said Family of four – Jagdish Patel, 39; his wife Vaishaliben in her 30s; their 11-year-old daughter Vihangi; and 3-year-old son Dharmik – wandered for hours in snowstorm conditions, in 2022 He died on January 19, 2019.
Prosecutors say part of India’s state, Hashkumar Ramanlal Patel, is part of a human smuggling program, and recruited Steve Shand to transport immigrants through border.
