CBSA says individual jumped off moving train trying to illegally enter Canada

A CBSA patch is seen on an officer in Calgary, Alta., Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) says an individual recently jumped off a moving freight train as it entered Canada in an attempt to illegally cross the border.

In a news release issued Wednesday, the border authority said it happened somewhere in the Niagara Region. The individual attempted to flee in Fort Erie, Ont. before they were arrested by CBSA and RCMP officers.

After being assessed, the CBSA said the individual was found to be inadmissible to Canada and returned to the U.S.

Officials are describing the incident as a human smuggling attempt and said two other individuals were also taken into custody for questioning.

The CBSA said the discovery of the illegal border crossing was a result of Project Disrupt and Deter, which launched in December and monitors “vulnerable” areas along the International Railway Bridge that connects Canada to the U.S.

The initiative is part of a larger national border intelligence and enforcement strategy dubbed Project Northstar.

“In line with the Government of Canada’s Border Plan, these projects enable the targeting and disruption of organized crime groups facilitating illegal border crossing, and advance Canada’s ongoing efforts to strengthen border security and immigration integrity,” the CBSA said.

In December, the federal government announced $1.3 billion in funding to beef up border security and unveiled details of the plan earlier this month. Two new Black Hawk helicopters, 60 new drones, and surveillance towers are included as parts of Canada’s aerial surveillance strategy.

“Canada’s border plan is working. The joint efforts between CBSA and RCMP to detect and prevent human smuggling and other criminal activities along the Canada-U.S. border are keeping Canadians and Americans safe,” Minister of Public Safety David J. McGuinty said in a news release.

The announcement to bolster border security came amid a threat from U.S. President Donald Trump to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports unless both countries stemmed the flow of illegal migrants and drugs.

Finance and intergovernmental minister Dominic LeBlanc insisted when it was first announced that the plan to secure the border had been in the works for months and was not an attempt to appease Trump to avoid the tariffs.