A 22-year-old Indian national, Shivam Lnu, pleaded guilty on Thursday to his involvement in a plan to transfer migrants from India across the northern border with Canada into America. According to court documents, the young man identified as Shivam LNU managed smuggling operations starting as early as January 2025 and continuing through June 2025, allegedly organizing the unlawful transportation of migrants across the U.S.-Canada border into northern New York.
According to the press release published by the Department of Justice, the 22-year-old Indian, Lnu, coordinated with drivers to pick up migrants at the border and transfer them to a safe house in Northern New York and to hotels in Plattsburgh, New York. Authorities shared that the defendant expected to receive payment for his involvement and also paid drivers for every migrant they transported.
An Indian national pleaded guilty today for his role in a scheme to smuggle aliens from India across the northern border with Canada into the United States.
The investigation and indictment were supported and prosecuted by Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), the Department’s lead… pic.twitter.com/MuepCOGOVP
— Criminal Division (@DOJCrimDiv) May 14, 2026
On January 25, 2025, the defendant allegedly instructed a co-conspirator to transport 12 migrants from India and the United Kingdom across the Canada border into the United States, paying $100 for each transported migrant. The following day, on January 26, 2025, U.S. Border Patrol agents tried to stop two vehicles traveling in tandem near the U.S.-Canada border.
Though both vehicles sped to dodge the agents, the agents chased them. One vehicle veered off the road and got stuck, while the second was later halted in Mooers, New York. Authorities shared that a total of 12 undocumented migrants were found inside both vehicles, as per justice.gov. The defendant pleaded to one conspiracy charge related to migrant smuggling and three separate migrant smuggling charges for monetary benefits.
He will reportedly be sentenced on Sept. 4 and could receive at least five years imprisonment and as many as 15 years behind bars. A federal district court judge will make the decision after going through the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors.
Joint Task Force Alpha supported the investigation and arraignment Joint Task Force Alpha, a joint initiative of the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security focused on fighting large-scale human smuggling and trafficking operations linked to cartels and transnational criminal groups.
In other news, a 35-year-old dual Canadian-American national pleaded guilty to his role in a similar crime which unfortunately led to the death of a Romanian family in 2023. The man identified as Timothy Oakes was the key facilitator in a migrant smuggling organization, responsible for transporting migrants from Canada into northern New York.
Hailing from the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Territory, he reportedly relied on boats to cross the St. Lawrence River and smuggled migrants into the country from this route. While making such a transit back on March 20, 2023, Oakes transferred a Romanian family of four to a public boat launch, as suggested by justice.gov.
Around 9:30 p.m., Timothy Oakes left a boat for the Romanian family to cross into the United States, but it overturned in dangerous weather. Five people, including his brother and a Romanian family, died after the group ignored unsafe river conditions.
