Human smuggling group tied to dead migrants in St. Lawrence River: RCMP

Members of two families, four people from India and four of Romanian descent, died in March 2023 while trying to make the crossing in Akwesasne, a First Nations territory.

A human smuggling ring recently dismantled by members of the RCMP was connected to the deaths of eight migrants who drowned in the St. Lawrence River while trying to cross illegally into the United States last year.

Members of two families — four people from India and four of Romanian descent — died in March 2023 while trying to make the crossing in Akwesasne, a First Nations territory that straddles Quebec, Ontario and New York state. Their bodies were pulled from the water on March 30 and 31.

On June 6, Police announced they had arrested four people, including the alleged ringleader, and issued warrants for four others. They were all part of a “large-scale human smuggling ring that funnelled illegal migrants” into the United States, RCMP alleged.

“Two of the eight accused have charges that link them to the transport of the Indian family that perished,” Cpl. Angélique Dignard, operational support for the RCMP’s detachment in Cornwall, Ont., said in an interview Friday.

“The RCMP has laid charges against all of the individuals that we will be laying charges against and therefore this group is no longer operating,” she said.

But police did not say whether the network was responsible for smuggling the Romanian family, who were allegedly on the same boat.

The four deceased Indians were members of the Chaudhari family from the western Indian state of Gujarat. They included 50-year-old Praveenbhai Chaudhari, his 45-year-old wife Dakshaben, their 20-year-old son Meet and their daughter Vidhi, 23.

The Romanian family was identified as Florin Iordache, 28; his wife, Cristina (Monalisa) Zenaida Iordache, 28; their two-year-old daughter Evelin and one-year-old son Elyen. Both children were Canadian citizens.