Four U.K. tourists busted by maple sugar workers for trying to illegally enter U.S. from Canada
Four men are under arrest in Maine for trying to cross illegally from Canada into the United States, after they were spotted by a pair of maple sugar employees on their way to work.
According to an an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Bangor, Maine, and obtained by National Post, the four men are Ali Mohammed Ali Abdullah, Hameed Mohammed Nagi, Ibrahim Ayyub Khan and Mohammed Sultan Saleh. Each faces one charge of entry without inspection. They all pleaded not guilty Tuesday and are being held without bail.
According to the affidavit, filed by Scott Hanton, a U.S. Border Patrol agent, the four men were spotted on the morning of Friday, April 3 by two maple sugar workers heading into Canada.
The four were walking south along the Golden Road, a 154-kilometre private road that stretches between the St. Zacharie Quebec/Maine border crossing and the town of Millinocket, Maine.
The maple sugar workers “reported that they had heard from a third man that two occupants of a gray Nissan automobile stopped on the Golden Road were asking passersby for fuel and Wi-Fi to contact people they were supposed to pick up,” Hanton wrote.
U.S. Border Patrol officers then headed south and “observed fresh footprints on the soft dirt of the road.” Near mile marker 87, they saw the four men trying to hide in vegetation at the side of the road, one of them “acting nervously.” They were taken into custody without incident, and said they were British citizens.
Hanton listened to audio recordings of interviews with the men, two of whom said they did not realize they were in the U.S. and had not meant to cross the border, adding they were “just on a hike.”
However, he wrote, the men’s cellphones contained searches made that day for “bangor from my location,” “boston from bangor” and “new york from boston” as well as “is st zacherie border crossing still used the one near quebec golden road.”
Additionally, a GoPro video was found in which one of the men says to the others: “I can confirm you are now on U.S. soil.”
Another then asks: “I’m on U.S. soil?” To which the first replies: “You are on U.S. soil,” adding, “Now we are in the U.S.,” and “We just made it, baby.” The video also shows a phone screen being held up with the GPS location displayed.
Hanton’s affidavit adds that the two occupants of the Nissan identified themselves as U.S. citizens, and were asked to step out of their car.
“The two complied and before the driver exited the vehicle, the (Customs and Border Protection) officer observed him reach under the driver’s seat. Observing this, the CBP officer checked under the seat and found a loaded 9mm handgun.”
The two men were then taken to a border patrol station “based on their involvement in a suspected alien smuggling event.” They have not been named.
The four border crossers could each face sentences of up to six months in U.S. federal prison and a US$5,000 fine if convicted. Local reports say the trial is expected to begin June 3 before U.S. Magistrate Judge John C. Nivison.
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