HERMON, Maine – U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Houlton Border Patrol Station arrested a male Canadian citizen, 40, in Hermon on Feb. 2, for illegally entering the United States. The arrest is the result of information from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Houlton port of entry on a Canadian citizen believed to be fleeing Canada to avoid pending assault charges.
A Border Patrol agent on patrol in close proximity of the Houlton, Maine port of entry.
“This incident validates the importance of timely cross-border intelligence between CBP and our Canadian law enforcement partners,” said Patrol Agent in Charge Dennis Harmon. “Thanks to the information provided from RCMP and the Houlton port of entry, our agents were able to conduct surveillance and ultimately arrest this individual.”
On the afternoon of Feb. 2, agents from the Houlton Station were notified by both RCMP and CBP Houlton port of entry officials of a Canadian male who was preparing to cross or had recently crossed the international border illegally to avoid pending assault charges in Canada. Once the family members were admitted to the U.S. and due to the possibility of the subject being picked up by these family members, agents were strategically located for surveillance and followed the vehicle southbound on I-95 to a Truck Stop/Restaurant in Hermon.
After more than an hour, agents observed a male fitting the subject’s description get into the driver’s side of the vehicle. Because the man fit the description of the individual in question, agents performed a vehicle stop. During the vehicle stop, agents determined the subject, a Canadian, was illegally present in the U.S., a violation of 8 USC 1325, Entry Without Inspection. Subsequently, all four individuals in the vehicle were transported to the Houlton Station for further investigation.
A CBP officer and his canine partner conducting an inspection at the Houlton, Maine port of entry.
Further questioning and database verifications by agents revealed the individual to be the male subject who crossed illegally into the U.S. to avoid pending assault charges in Canada.
The subject’s mother and three children were questioned and released. The subject is charged with violation of 8 USC 1325(a)(2), Eluding Examination or Inspection, and was turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service. The case is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office, District of Maine.
The Canadian subject faces up to six months in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both under Title 8, USC, 1325(a) and Title 18 USC 3571(b)(6), and deportation from the United States.
The charges and allegations contained in criminal complaints are merely accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The U.S. Border Patrol uses a multi-tiered enforcement strategy that goes beyond the physical border. An effective border management requires layers of security where agents must consider points of origin, modes of transit to the United States, arrival at our borders, as well as routes of egress away from the physical border to a final interior destination.
Another facet of this strategy is engaging with our law enforcement partners in coordinated patrols and enforcement operations to deter, detect, disrupt, detain, and prosecute criminals.
For more on CBP’s mission at our nation’s ports of entry with CBP officers and along U.S. borders with Border Patrol agents, please visit the Border Security section of the CBP website.