A 49 year old Calgary man is facing human smuggling charges after being arrested near Dominion City with a vehicle full of individuals who had just crossed the border illegally.

On January 27th around 3:45 am, the Manitoba RCMP Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET) received information from United States Border Patrol regarding a group of unknown people walking northbound along a rail line toward the Canadian border near Emerson. They were noted to be wearing proper winter clothing, and likely to cross into Canada within the hour.

IBET officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle at the intersection of PR 201 and PR 200, just south of Dominion City. Inside the vehicle were the driver and seven additional male occupants ranging in age from 27 to 49 who were confirmed to be foreign nationals from the Republic of Chad.

The driver was arrested for human smuggling, remanded into custody and appeared in court in Winnipeg January 29th.

The other seven men were arrested under the Customs Act, and turned over to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) at the Emerson Port of Entry.

RCMP, along with the CBSA, continue to investigate.