(St. Paul, MN) -- A Florida man is receiving a federal criminal complaint after after U.S Border Patrol (USBP) says he was engaging in human smuggling.
Court documents say 47-year-old Steve Shand was the driver of a large van which was just south of the U.S/Canadian border outside of Pembina, North Dakota. Court documents say officials asked for two passengers I.D in the van, and discovered them to be undocumented Indian nationals.
Court documents say that is when USBP began an investigation, learning about cases of plastic cups, bottled water, and snacks in the passenger van. The documents say rental agreement receipts in Shand's name for the van were also discovered, with the return date listed as Jan 20, 2022. Court documents say that is when USBP arrested Shand was arrested for smuggling undocumented foreign nationals, and were beginning to be moved to the Pembina Border Patrol Station.
During the arrest of Shand, documents say officers found five additional Indian nationals less than a quarter-mile away, walking in the direction of where Shand was located prior to his arrest. Court documents say the nationals had been walking for over 11 hours and explained to officials they expected to be picked up by someone. One of the group members was carrying a backpack that did not belong to him. When asked about the backpack, court documents say the man told the officers it belonged to a family of four Indian nationals who had walked with his group earlier but had split up during the night. The backpack contained children's clothes, a diaper, toys, and children's medication.
Court documents say the USBP was given information by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Jan 19, 2022, saying four bodies were found frozen less than 40ft north of the Canadian border. Documents say the bodies have been "tentatively identified as the family of four that was separated." In addition, two surviving nationals were taken to a hospital with serious but unknown injuries.
Shand is charged with one count of knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien had come to, entered, or remained in the United States in violation of law, having transported, and moved or having attempted to transport and move such aliens.