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Confidentiality directive concerning smuggling operations

Smuggling of Forty-four migrants in a refrigerated cargo truck leads to arrest of three alleged traffickers; the court hearing at Sherbrooke Palace of Justice has been covered by a gag order.

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Court-imposed ban on reporting on smuggler proceedings
Court-imposed ban on reporting on smuggler proceedings

Confidentiality directive concerning smuggling operations

In a shocking turn of events, 44 migrants were arrested in Montreal, Canada on August 8, after being found cramped and dehydrated in the back of a rented U-Haul cube truck. The scene was described as "horrific" by Sergeant Charles Poirier of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

The intercepted migrants included a pregnant woman and several children, with one around 4 years old. The majority of the migrants were of Haitian origin. They were apprehended in Stanstead, Estrie, after crossing the border from the United States. Due to a lack of space at the Stanstead border post, most of the migrants were transferred to the regional processing center in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle.

Four individuals have been accused of facilitating the illegal entry of these migrants. Ogulcan Mersin, Dogan Alakus, Firat Yuksek, and Tolga Yilmaz are Turkish nationals living in Montreal. Tolga Yilmaz was arrested on August 8 at Montreal-Trudeau Airport as he attempted to leave the country.

The investigation into these alleged traffickers is currently under a publication ban. On August 6, the Crown opposed the release of the three presumed traffickers. Judge Alexandre Tardif ordered on Thursday that nothing said or deposited in the course of the release investigation may be made public until the end of the trial.

Some of the migrants did not meet the criteria for exception to the Safe Third Country Agreement and were returned to the United States within hours. The remaining asylum cases are still being processed.

The release investigation will resume on Friday at 1:30 PM via videoconference. The grounds cited for opposing their release were risk of flight, protection of witnesses, and the need to maintain public confidence in the judicial system.

The case has drawn attention due to the large number of migrants involved and the inhumane conditions in which they were found. Under section 517 of the Criminal Code, the restriction on publicizing information from the release investigation applies automatically when a party requests it.

The trial for these cases will take place at a later date.

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