Death toll rises to eight after bodies found

Deceased were migrants trying to enter U.S., pulled from St. Lawrence River in Akwesasne, Que.

Authorities in the Mohawk Territory of Akwesasne lamented on Friday how their community is often exploited by human trafficking networks after the bodies of eight migrants, including two children, were pulled from the St. Lawrence River.

Police on Thursday found the bodies of five adults and one child — members of two families of Romanian and Indian descent — in a marshy area of the St. Lawrence River in Akwesasne, which straddles the Canada-U.S. border. Parts of the territory are in Ontario, Quebec and New York state.

The next day, police found the body of a second child — a Canadian citizen and a member of the Romanian family — and the body of an adult woman believed to be an Indian national, Akwesasne Mohawk Police Chief Shawn Dulude told reporters. He said he didn’t think there were any more bodies in the water.

Dulude said Akwesasne’s unique geography makes it fertile ground for human smugglers. Since January, he said, his police service has made 48 separate interceptions involving 80 people trying to enter the United States illegally. Most of them have been of Indian or Romanian descent.

“There are people of our community who are vulnerable … usually younger people who are looking to make money, and they are exploited … in the present case we’re talking about human smuggling.”

He said criminal networks know they can “facilitate and find people in our community, that are to a certain extent exploited because of their knowledge of the waters and the lay of the land — that they can get people into the United States.”

Dulude, however, said he couldn’t make any direct connections between the deaths of the eight migrants and a missing 30-year-old Akwesasne resident, Casey Oakes, who was last seen Wednesday night operating a boat that was found Thursday next to the bodies of the migrants. It was the search for Oakes that led police to find the bodies on Thursday.

“At the present time we don’t know,” he said about whether Oakes was transporting the migrants in the boat. “We are searching for him.”

The 30-year-old was charged last year with two criminal counts: dangerous operation of a conveyance and assault with a weapon. He is due back in court in Valleyfield, Que., at the end of May for the case, which was investigated by the Akwesasne police.

Dulude said his police service received two calls on Wednesday night around 9:30 p.m. from people who said there was “shouting out in the vicinity of the river.” He said his officers patrolled the shoreline using night-vision goggles and bodyheat sensors. “They were not able to see any heat or movement on the water,” he said.

Mohawk police said they are working with authorities to try to identify the victims and determine their status in Canada.