A naturalized Canadian man from Guatemala was taken into custody by U.S. authorities Wednesday as the suspected mastermind behind a plot to smuggle people into the U.S. from Canada through underground train tunnels.
Juan Antonio Garcia-Jimenez, 53, in his initial court appearance before U.S. District Court Magistrate R. Steven Whalen in Detroit, was ordered temporarily detained Wednesday.
Court documents state Garcia-Jimenez charged people who wanted to illegally enter the U.S. $1,500 to lead them to a tunnel that stretches from Windsor, Ontario, to Michigan, which they could use to get into the country. That 1.6-mile tunnel is an active train line used to transport cargo between countries.
“Smuggling individuals through the train tunnel is one of the most dangerous methods I have seen in my career and I could not be more proud of the agents and officers who worked on identifying this individual and finally catching him,” Border Patrol Detroit Sector Chief Patrol Agent Douglas Harrison told the Detroit Free Press.
Border agents on the American side began apprehending noncitizens near that tunnel in March, but had not been able to figure out who was behind the trafficking ring until July.
A Mexican national who was arrested in March said his smuggler had showed him how to avoid the trains while making his way through the tunnel. However, the man was caught upon exiting the tunnel on the U.S. side.
Then in July, agents arrested two more people coming out of the tunnel. Those two identified Garcia-Jimenez as their trafficker.
In late July, another two people were caught illegally entering the country from the tunnel. They also named the suspect as their smuggler. It’s not clear how U.S. authorities took the suspect into custody.
Garcia-Jimenez will go before a judge this week to determine if he will be released on bond ahead of his trial.
