Federal grand jury charged man for smuggling immigrants from Canada into U.S.

A federal grand jury charged an Indian man with smuggling a dozen people from Canada into the United States.

The U.S. Justice Department says 22-year-old Shivam Lnu allegedly smuggled Indian nationals across the U.S.-Canada border into Clinton County in New York.

Citing court documents, the department alleges the suspect directed and coordinated the human trafficking operation for several months between January and June 2025.

The DOJ says U.S. Border Patrol agents tried to stop two vehicles traveling one behind another near the border on Jan. 26, 2025.

It says a pursuit was triggered after both vehicles refused to stop and accelerated to avoid the agents.

The DOJ says one of the vehicles was immobilized after it went off road, and the second one was later stopped in Mooers, New York.

There was a total of 12 undocumented immigrants in both vehicles, the DOJ said.

“WhatsApp messages between one of the drivers and a number connected to Shivam allegedly revealed coordination of smuggling illegal aliens into the U.S. from Canada on numerous occasions,” it said in a news release.

Lnu was charged with one count of conspiracy to illegally bring aliens to the U.S. and four counts of illegally bringing aliens to the U.S. for the purpose of private financial gain.

The DOJ said the suspect is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 15 years, if convicted of all four counts of illegally smuggling aliens into the country.

The department said Lnu was initially charged by criminal complaint with one count of conspiracy to transport aliens in June.