Six Adult Migrants, Two Children Found Dead in Canada near U.S. Border

Canadian police recovered the bodies of eight migrants who were apparently being smuggled into the United States from Quebec. Two of the deceased migrants are reported to be children. Police are searching for a man described as a “person of interest” in the alleged human smuggling attempt.

“This is a heartbreaking situation,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said regarding the circumstances surrounding the deaths of eight people attempting to illegally enter the United States. “We need to understand properly what happened, how it happened, and do whatever we can to minimize the chances of this ever happening again.”

Canadian authorities found six bodies on Thursday in a marshy area along the St. Lawrence River that separates the United States and Canada. On Friday, search parties found the bodies of two additional migrants.

The incident took place in the Mohawk Territory of Akwesasne in Quebec, the Associated Press reported.

Akwesasne Mohawk Police Chief Shawn Dulude reported, “A total of eight bodies have now been recovered from the waters. All are believed to have been attempting illegal entry into the United States from Canada.”

The migrants are reported to be of Romanian and Indian descent, police said. One of the children of a Romanian family is reported to be a Canadian citizen.

Police are searching for a man described as 30-year-old Casey Oakes. The man is said to be a “person of interest” in the attempted smuggling incident after he was seen operating a small boat in the area. Chief Dulude said it is not known if Oakes is alive or dead.

Akwesasne resident Tony Jackson told a reporter that when Oakes departed in his 20-foot boat, the weather was calm but later turned rough.

“The east wind around here creates a lot of waves, five feet tall, maybe taller,” Jackson explained. He said that crossing the river on a boat that small was a recipe for disaster.

He added that he had never heard Oakes talking about smuggling migrants but he had witnessed people crossing the fields with bags in their hands. He also said he saw boats carrying large numbers of people across the river.

The area where the deaths took place is a well-known human smuggling corridor, officials stated. Police report that about 80 people have been apprehended in the area since January as they attempt to illegally enter the United States.

On the U.S. side of the border, Swanton Sector Border Patrol officials report an exponential surge in migrant apprehensions.

“In just over 5 months, we have apprehended more individuals than the last three (3) Fiscal Years combined,” Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia stated. “The current rate of illicit cross-border activity is unprecedented for Swanton Sector.”

During that five-month period Swanton Sector officials apprehended more than 1,900 migrants who illegally crossed the border from Canada into New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire, Breitbart Texas reported after reviewing unofficial Border Patrol reports.

According to the CBP Nationwide Encounters Report, during the entire fiscal years 22, 21, and 20, Swanton Sector officials report the apprehension of 1,065, 365, and 574 respectively. The total for these three entire fiscal years stands at 2,004 migrant apprehensions.

In addition to the migrants apprehended by agents so far this fiscal year, another nearly 1,200 migrants are known got-aways.  These are migrants the Border Patrol knows entered the U.S. but were unable to be apprehended, the reports reviewed by Breitbart reveal.