15 arrested in three illegal border crossings between US and Canada, one dead

Ottawa: Canadian police have arrested 15 people in three separate incidents along the US-Canada border, with one person dying while attempting to escape. Authorities have yet to identify those detained.

Lisa Moreland, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), said two incidents occurred along Alberta’s border with the US, while the third took place in Manitoba.

On February 4, a driver from the US side evaded a checkpoint at the Coutts Corridor in Alberta and fled without stopping for document verification.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) alerted police, who later intercepted the vehicle near Raymond, about 80 km away. The driver abandoned the car and attempted to escape on foot, eventually injuring himself with a weapon. He was pronounced dead while being transported to the hospital.

In another case, nine individuals, including five minors, were arrested on February 3 while attempting to cross into Canada on foot under the cover of darkness in freezing conditions.

A third incident occurred near Emerson, Manitoba, where six people were detained for illegally crossing the border after being detected by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Emerson was the site of a similar tragedy two years ago, when a Gujarati-origin family of five, including three children, died in a blizzard while trying to enter Canada.