Northern Border Threat

Although the focus of Border issues is almost always to the south, there are also documented cases of terrorists entering the US from the Canadian border as well. The following story neglects to mention the faith of the captured suspects. This is important because if they were willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars to sneak in, it's safe to say they weren't planning to perform manual labor. Also, this is another clear example of why our current border policy is hazardous to homeland security.


US, Canadian police bust human smuggling ring

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - U.S. and Canadian police have broken up a criminal ring that smuggled dozens of Indian and Pakistani nationals into the United States at a cost of up to $35,000 each, officials said on Wednesday.

Police said 14 people have been indicted by a U.S. grand jury in Seattle in connection with the Vancouver-based scheme that transported people over the border between British Columbia and Washington state.

Four people waiting to be transported to the United States were arrested in houses in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey on Tuesday in raids that also lead to the arrest of a man police said was the ringleader.

The smuggling operation was first discovered in January 2005, when U.S. agents near Oroville in eastern Washington state received a tip about men purchasing maps of the rural border area.

The smugglers charged between $20,000 and $35,000 for each passage through Canada into the United States, officials of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a joint announcement.

Once in Washington state, the illegal immigrants were kept in hotels until the smugglers could set up flights to cities around the United States, officials said.