Human smugglers trafficked in Canadian passports, posed security threat, RCMP records allege
CBC
A "sophisticated" human smuggling organization run from Montreal posed a threat to national security through its connections to an international network that trafficked in forged Canadian passports, according to allegations in RCMP files obtained by CBC News.
The smuggling organization developed an ability to subvert "all regular immigration and security protocols," and this created implications for "Canada's national security," concluded authorities in a report summarizing the investigation, called Project O-ctopus.
Cellphone data, including WhatsApp messages, documents, videos and photos, gathered during the investigation revealed details of a suspected "larger network … involved in the fabrication of counterfeit passports," according to the report.
The report said members of this network claimed to have access to "insiders at embassies." Investigators speculated that these insiders were "willing to issue visas for a fee to bypass regular airport travel and security protocols," said the document.
None of the allegations contained in the document have been proven in court.
The investigation began July 2022 and aimed to disrupt human smuggling groups operating throughout the Ontario border town of Cornwall and the neighbouring Haudenosaunee territory of Akwesasne, which spreads across the Canada-U.S. border about 120 kilometres west of Montreal.
The probe was led by the RCMP with support from the Ontario Provincial Police, Canada Border Services Agency, Akwesasne Mohawk Police and U.S. Border Patrol.
Investigators obtained warrants to search cellphones and place tracking devices on vehicles while gathering intelligence from foreign nationals detained before and after they crossed the Canada-U.S. border. They wove each of these strands into an intricately detailed case against this purported human smuggling network.
The investigation also linked the organization to the deaths of nine people — including two families, one Indian and one Romanian-Canadian — on the St. Lawrence River in March 2023 during a U.S.-bound human smuggling run.
Project O-ctopus culminated with raids on three homes in the Montreal area in June 2023, including the Pierrefonds-Roxboro residence of the alleged boss of the organization, Thesingarasan Rasiah. The RCMP found two Sri Lankan nationals in Rasiah's home, along with over $380,000 Cdn worth of cash in different currencies and three cellphones.
Information extracted from cellphones seized at Rasiah's home suggested the organization "had a much broader reach than originally anticipated," according to the RCMP summary of evidence report.
This larger network allegedly helped Rasiah to "transport individuals across multiple international borders with unimaginable efficiency," said the report.
Rasiah was charged in May 2024 with multiple human smuggling-related charges. He remains in custody awaiting trial. Rasiah's Ottawa lawyer James Harbic declined comment.
Rasiah faces no charges related to passport forgery.
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