Human Smugglers Used BC Freight Trains to Move People Across Border, US Says

Trains are seen as cargo containers sit idle on rail tracks in Delta, B.C., on July 7, 2023. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

The U.S. Department of Justice says two men are facing humansmuggling 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 45-year-old Jesus Ortiz-Plata of Oregon and 35-year-old Juan Pablo Cuellar Medina of Washington were arrested last week, along with three non-citizens who were allegedly smuggled out of Canada.