RCMP says Mexican cartels are smuggling illegal immigrants into Canada — despite Roxham Road closure

Facebook/ Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The federal government demolished the last RCMP building along Roxham Road on Monday to mark the supposed end of illegal immigrants abusing the generosity of Canadians and their sovereignty.

However, the RCMP told Rebel News that despite the federal closure of Roxham Road on March 24, human smuggling remains an issue along the U.S.-Canada border.

“It has been conveyed that the Mexican cartels are in human smuggling operations in Canada,” confirmed RCMP spokesperson Sergeant Charles Poirier.

“Although we have information that the Mexican cartels are in Canada, and are operating, we don’t know if they’re behind all the human smuggling operations,” he said.

As first reported by Radio-Canada, criminal entities have established migration routes for illegal immigrants to enter Canada and the U.S. under a shroud of secrecy.

These networks also smuggle contraband into the country through these routes, such as drugs, tobacco and firearms.

"we have information that Mexican cartels are in Canada and are operating, we don't know if they're behind all of the human smuggling operations."

RCMP answers my questions about the criminal groups that are operating smuggling illegal immigrants across the border into Canada.… pic.twitter.com/7sNINpMRfY

— Alexandra Lavoie (@ThevoiceAlexa) September 25, 2023

In April, U.S. Secretary to the Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas passed confidential information to then Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino concerning cross-border crime.

According to Radio-Canada, the RCMP received a five-page document detailing how Mexican cartels and “organized criminal groups” to the south have established a stronger foothold in Canada.

“We have investigations ongoing that are looking into these organized networks,” Poirier told Rebel News.

“Because of the lucrative nature, it’s probable that organized crime is behind some of those smuggling operations. But the investigations will reveal that in due time.”

According to one Québec mayor in March — before the closure of Roxham Road — transport workers took illegal immigrants roughly 25 minutes north to Roxham Road from New York State, where they walked across the Canadian border to seek asylum.

"I got the impression that it is extremely lucrative for certain people — like for the buses and taxis in Plattsburgh that travel to Roxham Road," St-Bernard-de-Lacolle Mayor Estelle Muzzi told the National Post.

She considers this a form of "human trafficking," with Roxham Road located minutes from the unofficial border crossing.

WATCH: Rebel News sent @LincolnMJay and @TheVoiceAlexa on an undercover mission to document and expose the journey of illegal immigrants coming through Roxham Road.

Support our work and stay tuned for the full reports at https://t.co/H4xRmriwrppic.twitter.com/rCgzH4oSoQ

— Rebel News Québec (@RebelNews_QC) March 23, 2023

RCMP officers at Roxham Road then said there had been a growing number of illegal immigrants who arrived at the crossing by way of Florida. 

The officers confirmed they fly into the U.S. and pay hundreds of dollars to take a minibus for the long drive north to Roxham Road.

As soon as the migrants cross at the unofficial border crossing, most will receive shelter at select hotels on the taxpayers' dime.

A few weeks after Ottawa and Washington amended the Safe Third Country Agreement, the RCMP warned the feds of the dangers along the Canada-U.S. border — contravening Ottawa's claim that amending the agreement would secure the 49th parallel.

The federal policing agency ascertained that criminals and illegal immigrants may be more motivated to enter Canada or the U.S. through more difficult means to avoid law enforcement and bypass the new agreement.

The document's author said it is “very likely” that smuggler networks would expand their operations and provide shelter, transport and fraudulent documents for illegal immigrants to enter Canada.

Documents received by Rebel News from the Immigration Ministry indicate that between November 29th and January 5th, just 10% (366) of border crossers of over 3,000 who crossed at Roxham Road in Quebec were vaccinated.

FULL REPORT by @SheilaGunnReid: https://t.co/iwc9ruvngE

— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) December 21, 2022

In recent months, U.S. border agents have arrested a record number of migrants crossing the border with Québec. They’ve apprehended over 6,100 people in the past year alone — more than their combined total from the previous decade.

At the end of March, eight illegal immigrants perished in a shipwreck trying to enter the U.S. along the St. Lawrence River.

"Transnational crime has no borders; we live in an increasingly larger and connected world. The passage of illegal immigrants is a global scourge that must be remedied with the help of both national and international measures," said RCMP spokesperson Marie-Eve Breton in a statement last month.

She maintains the RCMP works with its Canadian and international partners to "identify organized crime groups and networks that are involved in the passage of illegal immigrants and to investigate these groups and networks."

With the number of illegal immigrants entering Canada by land falling precipitously since March, thousands more now arrive by air, mainly at the airports in Toronto and Montreal.