A Dominican Republic man convicted of trafficking fentanyl in the U.S. was deported last year, only to return to the country via Canada with the help of a human smuggler, who aided him in crossing illegally into Vermont through a Quebec forest.
According to U.S. federal court records, Luis Edison Capellan-Ortiz was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol last October.
The agency discovered him hiding in the woods about four kilometres from the Quebec-Vermont border.
Capellan-Ortiz allegedly took off into the woods after border agents spotted a black Honda Pilot SUV with New York plates attempting to pick up him and three other people along Route 105 in Vermont, which they suspected to be a human smuggling run.
“Capellan-Ortiz claimed that he was threatened by another man in his country, feared for his family’s lives, and left the Dominican Republic [for] Canada to illegally enter the U.S.,” reads a criminal complaint filed with the U.S. Federal Court, District of Vermont.
Capellan-Ortiz confessed to paying someone named Ricardo USD $2,000 to be smuggled south of the border through the Quebec forest bordering Vermont during his interrogation.
He had previously been convicted of possessing and conspiring to traffic over 400 grams of fentanyl and was sentenced to 41 months by the U.S. Federal Court, District of New Jersey.
A Department of Homeland Security investigation found that Capellan-Ortiz was supplying fentanyl, cocaine and heroin to a street-level dealer in Perth Amboy, N.J.
The area in which he was being smuggled, runs along to Quebec-Vermont and Ontario-New York, a route that has become increasingly popular for illegal crossings.
U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended over 19,000 individuals in the last year, originating from 97 different countries.
That figure surpasses the total number of people apprehended in the same region, known as the Swanton Sector, over the past 17 fiscal years combined, according to data collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Human smuggling has become a booming business with a very lucrative market.
So much so that TikTok users are now advertising their easy ability to illegally smuggle Indian temporary residents and others from Canada into the US using unofficial points of entry.
There are at least a dozen TikTok accounts currently advertising the illegal service of guiding Indian temporary residents from Canada into the US, promising safe passage via Montreal, Brampton or Surrey, B.C.
The smugglers offer the service for anywhere between $1,500 to $5,000, which can be paid after arrival and some accounts even offer group rates.
