On February 22, 2024, at approximately 2:00 am, an officer with RCMP Central Traffic Services conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle located on McGillivray Boulevard in the City of Winnipeg.
The vehicle contained a driver and eight occupants, one female, 33, and seven males, (aged 36,33,30,29,28,27,25). Seven were confirmed to be foreign nationals from the Republic of Chad and one from the Republic of Mali.
The 30-year-old male driver, Abdi Hassan Ali, from Winnipeg, was arrested for human smuggling under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and remanded into custody where he appeared in court in Winnipeg on February 23, 2024.
The other eight individuals were arrested under the Customs Act and transported to an Immigration Support Center in Winnipeg where they were released from RCMP custody.
RCMP continue to investigate.