A RCMP officer checks the border between Quebec and New York state on Roxham Road in St. Bernard-de-Lacolle, Que. on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

MONTREAL — The Canada Border Services Agency says it has arrested and charged three alleged smugglers after police in southern Quebec intercepted a truck carrying 44 foreign nationals in conditions an RCMP officer described as "horrific."

The agency said RCMP and Quebec provincial police intercepted the vehicle with dozens of people aboard near Stanstead, Que. overnight between Saturday to Sunday.

The agency said Ogulcan Mersin, 25, and Dogan Alakus and Firat Yuksek, both 31, have been charged with inducing, aiding or abetting someone to commit an offence under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act as well as assisting people to enter Canada outside of a designated customs office.

RCMP spokesperson Charles Poirier said police intercepted a cube van at around 2:20 a.m. on Sunday after receiving information about a group of migrants planning to cross the border from the United States.

He said the migrants included a pregnant woman and children as young as four. They were dehydrated, "visibly distraught" and in cramped conditions when police found them, he added.

“There wasn't a lot of air for them to breathe, no one had any water, and with the kids and the tight space they couldn't sit on the ground, they had to stand,” he said Monday in a phone interview. “Just horrific conditions, really, that they were basically left in.”

The vast majority of the truck passengers were Haitian nationals, he said, adding that they told officers they had crossed the border on foot, walking for two hours until the truck picked them up.

Despite the poor conditions and dehydration, Poirier said none of their lives were believed to be in immediate danger.

CBSA said most of the foreign nationals were transferred to the CBSA’s refugee processing centre in St-Bernard-de-Lacolle where they are subject to immigration examinations.

The agency did not say what happened to the remaining foreign nationals, citing privacy reasons.

The agency said the three suspects will remain detained until their case returns to court on Wednesday.

The investigation is ongoing and more charges could be laid, the agency added.

Poirier said it’s the first time he's heard of such a large number of migrants being intercepted at once in Quebec, and expressed concern that a tragedy could occur if big groups become a more common.

“If you think of everything that could have gone wrong, if the truck had been involved in a motor vehicle collision, if the migrants were trapped with no air in the truck. Luckily none of that happened but it could have happened,” he said. “So that's why we’re very fortunate and we're actually really happy that this information we got was reliable and that we managed to rescue them.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025