BURLINGTON, VT - Last week, the Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Lasher issued a summons for Alaa Abdulsalam Arif, who is now facing human smuggling charges.
On March 21, 2020, the U.S. Border Patrol pulled over Arif's vehicle after it had crossed into the U.S. from Canada. The vehicle contained four Mexican nationals, Gambia national and another from the African nation of Niger.
All six admitted they were in the country illegally, and were immediately returned to Canada, per current Coronavirus policies.
U.S. News & World Report stated: "On Feb. 15, a surveillance camera spotted a dark van in the same area that was involved in an apparently successful human smuggling event. On March 12, surveillance cameras saw what appeared to be the same vehicle, later determined to belong to Arif, drop off a man whose footprints led into Canada, the affidavit says."
Arif came to this country from Nigeria and has become a U.S. citizen. He operates a taxi company in Essex Junction, Vermont, and is believed to have been involved in human smuggling for some time. In fact, a federal court authorized the Border Patrol to install a GPS tracking device on Arif's vehicle before he was apprehended.
Comments