Smugglers brought thousands of illegal Chinese workers into the United States through a remote Indian reservation along the Canadian border, Atty. Gen. Janet Reno said Thursday as she announced the arrests of 35 alleged smugglers and Indian accomplices. Reno said the alleged ring, based in New York City, is the largest such smuggling operation detected along the northern border. Many of the 35 suspects were arrested in sweeps Wednesday after a year of investigation, authorities said.
Ringleaders face federal conspiracy and alien-trafficking charges.
Some of the approximately 3,600 young Chinese men allegedly smuggled in over two years and some U.S. employers also may face charges, authorities said. Smugglers tried to take advantage of the lightly patrolled border between New York state and Canada and the sometimes confusing overlap of American, Canadian and tribal government jurisdictions, officials said. When police pulled over the serving van last October, they found nine illegal Chinese immigrants inside, stacked on top of each other like lumber. All had paid thousands of dollars to get to New York City. Authorities had just uncovered part of what they say was the largest immigrant smuggling ring ever along the nation's northern border.