RCMP have released aerial footage of a recent apprehension of migrants trying to cross from the U.S. into Manitoba illegally, which they say shows migrants trying to evade police in frigid Manitoba temperatures.
RCMP confirmed earlier this month that on Jan. 14, an RCMP aircraft, using thermal technology, detected a group comprised of six individuals crossing the border between official ports of entry, about 15 km east of the Pembina-Emerson border crossing.
The six people were from multiple countries, including Jordan, Sudan, Chad, and Mauritania, and according to RCMP when officers located the group they were not dressed for the frigid Manitoba temperatures that day that dipped down to about -20 degrees Celcius.
During a media conference on Wednesday in Edmonton, RCMP released night vision video of the apprehension, which shows both the individuals trying to cross the border and police vehicles approaching.
In the video several of the migrants can be seen trying to evade police by running into the nearby woods, RCMP said, but they were all eventually apprehended without incident and handed over to Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) for processing.
“With the RCMP plane directing officers on the ground, all six were arrested without incident and transferred to the CBSA,” RCMP Assistant Commissioner Lisa Moreland, the northwest regional commander of federal policing, said at a press conference in Edmonton on Wednesday.
Moreland said none of the six arrested on Jan. 14 were dressed appropriately for the frigid temperatures that day, something she said can put lives in danger during the winter months in parts of western Canada.
“To anyone who is thinking about crossing the border illegally, don’t. You’re putting your life at risk and you should not attempt under any circumstances,” Moreland said.
Mounties recently beefed up security at the U.S.-Manitoba border, which includes the use of Black Hawk helicopters that began patrolling the border last month, but RCMP say Black Hawks were not involved in the Jan. 14 apprehensions.
— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
