Canada/US border - Patel family died from exposure, human smuggler Steve Shand charged, 20 Jan 2022

[Ozoner]

I have found numerous articles from last March stating that a trial was set for the summer of 2022, but I have not been able to find anything saying that a trial ever took place.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/human-smuggling-steve-shand-patel-family-1.6402614

I hope Shand is co-operating with authorities so that the U.S. government can go after the ringleaders, whether they're over in Gujarat or somewhere else.

 

[Ozoner]

Investigation: Family who died near Minnesota-Canada border were victims of human smuggling

A new Canadian Broadcasting Corporation investigation looks into how this happened — and asks if their deaths could have been prevented.

www.mprnews.org

 

[dotr]

Year after death of Indian family at U.S. border, those left behind try to move on

Investigators believe the deaths were linked to a human smuggling operation.

www.thestar.com

Jan 15 2023 rbbm

Baldev Patel cannot remember much of the last conversation he had with his son and, while the memories are fast fading, the hurt remains.

''Patel’s son, 39-year-old Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, was found dead along with his wife and two children on Jan. 19, 2022, near a border crossing between Manitoba and the United States.

The RCMP has said the family was trying to get into the U.S. during severe winter weather and died from exposure. Investigators also believe the deaths were linked to a human smuggling operation.

Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel’s wife was 37-year-old Vaishaliben Jagdishkumar Patel. Their daughter, Vihangi Jagdishkumar Patel, was 11 years old and their son, Dharmik Jagdishkumar Patel, was three.

“We worried about him when we didn’t hear from him. I talked to him two or three days before he died,” Patel said of his son in an interview in Hindi from his home in Dingucha, a village of about 3,000 people in the Gujarat state of western India.

“I can’t remember our last conversation very clearly. He had reached Canada. He was going to the U.S. He was happy.”

He said his son lived in a single-storey house in Dingucha before leaving for Canada. That house is now locked and unoccupied.

''His son held different jobs, including teaching, farming and selling kites, the father said.''

Pratham said “lots of people” want to go to a western country with expectations of a better life, financial security and might be willing to break the law to do so.

He said investigators spoke with people who had been questioned in the past for offences relating to fake credentials.

“We had to try to find out if they had any role (in the case),” he said. “Clearly nothing came out for those who were involved (in the investigation), but we saw the process … what documents were used.”

The first step of coming to Canada would involve enrolment in a college or getting a job, Pratham said.

“Sometimes they show false documents at that place for admission or for a job,” he said, noting their intention might be to cross into the United States.''

 

[LadyL]

thanks for the updates everyone
no justice yet

 

[whiterhino]

Has anyone brought up, considered or suggested that the Patel family could have been somehow involved in the India farmers protest from 2020-2021? Could they have been fleeing conflict?

It's been mentioned that the father of the Patel family had been involved in farming (among other jobs). Wondering what kind of farming and in what capacity?

Considering the conflict and tension in India around the time that the Patels were arranging to leave, this family must have had more resources than the average family.

It looks like at the end of the day, there was no intention to get this family to safety. It was about scamming them.

"But farmers argue that the rules could help big companies drive down prices. While farmers could sell crops at elevated prices if the demand is there, conversely, they could struggle to meet the minimum price in years when there is too much supply in the market.

Singh, the Uttar Pradesh farmer, said that removing the price guarantees will make life tougher for farmers.

“There is a lot of anger among farmers,” he said. “We don’t get even the minimum support price that is presently declared – removing these protections and making it easier for corporates to enter will completely buy us out.”

Tens of thousands of farmers swarm India's capital to protest deregulation rules | CNN

Tens of thousands of farmers have swarmed India's capital where they intend to camp out for weeks to protest new agricultural laws that they say could destroy their livelihoods.

www.cnn.com

Who looked after them during their time in Toronto? (also why were they not dressed properly? they must have felt the cold once they got into Canada, wondering if their ID, passports, money etc were kept from them)

 

[dotr]

In related news..

Canada- Six bodies found in a marsh, near US border, Tsi Snaihne, Akwesasne, Quebec, 30 March 2023

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2023/03/30/cp-newsalert-police-say-six-bodies-found-near-akwesasne-que-near-us-border.html ''The Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service says they are investigating after the bodies of six people were found late Thursday afternoon in the St. Lawrence River by a marsh...

www.websleuths.com

 

[dotr]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/patel-family-death-accused-human-smuggler-1.7092020

Jan 26 2024

Indian police have accused Fenil Patel, seen outside his home near Toronto, of culpable homicide in the 2022 deaths of members of an Indian family on the Canada-U.S. border in Manitoba. (CBC)
''A man accused by police in India of helping smuggle a family of four through Canada just before they froze to death on the Manitoba border with the United States is living freely in a suburb outside Toronto, an investigation by CBC's The Fifth Estate has found.

Indian police allege Fenil Patel was one of two men who helped transport Jagdish Patel (no relation) and his family to the border during a blinding snowstorm and –35 C temperatures two years ago''.

 

[Charlot123]

Has anyone brought up, considered or suggested that the Patel family could have been somehow involved in the India farmers protest from 2020-2021? Could they have been fleeing conflict?

It's been mentioned that the father of the Patel family had been involved in farming (among other jobs). Wondering what kind of farming and in what capacity?

Considering the conflict and tension in India around the time that the Patels were arranging to leave, this family must have had more resources than the average family.

It looks like at the end of the day, there was no intention to get this family to safety. It was about scamming them.

"But farmers argue that the rules could help big companies drive down prices. While farmers could sell crops at elevated prices if the demand is there, conversely, they could struggle to meet the minimum price in years when there is too much supply in the market.

Singh, the Uttar Pradesh farmer, said that removing the price guarantees will make life tougher for farmers.

“There is a lot of anger among farmers,” he said. “We don’t get even the minimum support price that is presently declared – removing these protections and making it easier for corporates to enter will completely buy us out.”

Tens of thousands of farmers swarm India's capital to protest deregulation rules | CNN

Tens of thousands of farmers have swarmed India's capital where they intend to camp out for weeks to protest new agricultural laws that they say could destroy their livelihoods.

www.cnn.com

Who looked after them during their time in Toronto? (also why were they not dressed properly? they must have felt the cold once they got into Canada, wondering if their ID, passports, money etc were kept from them)

OMG…even Alberta that we visited in autumn is an unforgivingly cold place in winter. Planes, and the wind blowing from the Arctic through the province. And Nothern Idaho is not much better. There are areas without cellular connection (probably, depopulated). It is a horrible situation. Did the guy pay anyone off not to be accused?

 

[Charlot123]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/patel-family-death-accused-human-smuggler-1.7092020

Jan 26 2024
View attachment 477937
Indian police have accused Fenil Patel, seen outside his home near Toronto, of culpable homicide in the 2022 deaths of members of an Indian family on the Canada-U.S. border in Manitoba. (CBC)
''A man accused by police in India of helping smuggle a family of four through Canada just before they froze to death on the Manitoba border with the United States is living freely in a suburb outside Toronto, an investigation by CBC's The Fifth Estate has found.

Indian police allege Fenil Patel was one of two men who helped transport Jagdish Patel (no relation) and his family to the border during a blinding snowstorm and –35 C temperatures two years ago''.

So the question is why Canadian police is doing nothing? I have only one obvious answer.

 

[dotr]

Jan 26, 2024 #Migrants #Investigation #HumanSmuggling
Smugglers left the Patel family to cross the Canada–U.S. border on foot during a snowstorm in 2022. The family of four didn’t survive. Indian police say they know who planned the fatal border crossing. The Fifth Estate’s Steven D’Souza followed their trail from Gujarat, India, to a suburb in Canada.

 

[LadyL]

thanks for the updates @dotr

 

[dotr]

Man charged in case of family from India who froze to death in Manitoba

Authorities in the U.S. have charged another man in an alleged human smuggling operation that led to a family from India freezing to death.

torontosun.com

Feb 25 2024
'Authorities in the United States have charged another man in an alleged human smuggling operation that led to a family from India freezing to death while trying to enter the country from Manitoba.
No details were provided on his arrest. An arrest warrant for Patel, which says he was also known as “Dirty Harry,” was filed in Minnesota court in September.

A U.S. Homeland Security investigator, in an affidavit, alleges Patel recruited, directed and paid a man in Florida, Steve Shand, to pick up several Indian nationals after they illegally crossed the border from Canada into the U.S.''

 

[dotr]

November 19, 2024 rbbm

‘My heart sank’: Trial hears diapers, mittens set off search for migrant family found frozen near Manitoba border

A U.S. border patrol intelligence agent recalled Tuesday feeling horrified when he realized a group of migrants from India, including a young child, were out in a freezing blizzard on a stretch of open prairie at the border between Manitoba and Minnesota.

www.cp24.com

''FERGUS FALLS — A U.S. border patrol intelligence agent recalled Tuesday feeling horrified when he realized a group of migrants from India, including a young child, were out in a freezing blizzard on a stretch of open prairie at the border between Manitoba and Minnesota.

“My heart sank ... because there’s more people out there,” Daniel Huguley testified at the trial of two accused human smugglers.''

''A meteorologist told the trial in Fergus Falls, Minn., that the blowing snow and severe cold that day would threaten anyone not properly dressed for the weather. Temperatures were below -20 C, and the wind made it feel colder.

“When the wind chill gets into the -30s, frostbite can occur within 10 minutes,” testified Daryl Ritchison, director of the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network.''
Oliver received a call that other border-crossers had been found in a field. He said he asked Shand whether he was aware of more.''
“People will die if you don’t tell me the truth,” the agent recalled telling Shand.
Shand replied that there was no one else, said Oliver.''

 

[dotr]

December 26, 2024

India alleges widespread trafficking of international students through Canada to U.S.

Indian law enforcement agencies say they are investigating alleged links between dozens of colleges in Canada and two “entities” in Mumbai accused of illegally ferrying students across the Canada-United States border.

www.cp24.com

''OTTAWA — Indian law enforcement agencies say they are investigating alleged links between dozens of colleges in Canada and two “entities” in Mumbai accused of illegally ferrying students across the Canada-United States border.

''Indian officials say they launched their investigation after Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, 39, was found dead along with his wife and two children near a border crossing between Manitoba and the United States on Jan. 19, 2022.''

“Once the individuals or students reach Canada, instead of joining the college, they illegally crossed the U.S.-Canada Border and never joined college(s) in Canada,” it said''.

“There is a legal way of going from India to whichever country one wants,” he said

 

[dotr]

Criminologist says Canada should better track foreign student departures

www.cp24.com

December 27, 2024
''OTTAWA — A Canadian criminologist who once worked on inland immigration enforcement for the Canada Border Services Agency said Canada needs to better track foreign nationals who arrive in the country on student visas.

Kelly Sundberg, a professor at Mount Royal University, said he was not shocked to hear that Indian law enforcement agencies are investigating links between Canadian colleges and a scheme to ferry international students across the Canada-U. S. border.

"I'm not surprised that our ridiculous honour-based immigration program is being gamed by transnational criminals. That doesn't surprise me at all," Sundberg said''

''India's Enforcement Directorate said on Tuesday it had uncovered evidence of human trafficking after launching an investigation on the Indian connections the deaths of Jagdish and Vaishali Patel and their two children in January 2022.''

 

[iamshadow21]

People smuggler jailed after family freeze to death on US border

Jagdish Patel, his wife Vaishaliben, their daughter Vihangi and son Dharmik died in a -38 degree Celsius blizzard after walking for hours trying to find a car to take them into the United States.

www.abc.net.au

 

[dotr]

Sep 16 2025 rbbm.

Man facing extradition after migrant family froze to death at Canada-U.S. border

A witness told the trial Fenil Patel was a key organizer in human smuggling, and drove the family to Winnipeg just before they died trying to cross the border.

www.thestar.com

Road signage is posted just outside of Emerson, Manitoba on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022.
John Woods/The Canadian Press

''Another man has been arrested in connection with a human smuggling operation that saw a migrant family freeze to death on the Canada-U.S. border near Emerson, Man.
Fenil Patel was arrested Sept. 5 on an extradition request from the United States, the Justice Department in Ottawa said Tuesday. The 37-year-old faces a hearing this week in Ontario Superior Court.''

''The family had been given jeans and light jackets meant for spring weather and were among several other migrants from India who were dropped off near the Canada-U.S. border in Manitoba. They were told to walk until they could be picked up by a vehicle in the U.S.''