Washington: A federal grand jury in upstate New York has indicted a 22-year-old suspect for allegedly running a human smuggling operation that brought migrants from Canada into the United States across the northern border, US authorities said.
The indictment, returned on January 28 in the Northern District of New York, charges Shivam Lnu with directing smuggling operations between January and June 2025, the Justice Department said.
Federal prosecutors allege that Shivam coordinated the illegal transport of migrants across the US-Canada border into New York. He allegedly did so by using multiple drivers and vehicles and relying on messaging applications to manage the operation, prosecutors allege.
According to the Department of Justice, the case stems in part from a January 26, 2025 incident near the border, when US Border Patrol agents attempted to stop two vehicles traveling in tandem, authorities said. Both vehicles accelerated to evade agents, triggering a pursuit.
One vehicle went off the road and became immobilized, while the second was later stopped in Mooers, New York, court documents show. Agents discovered a total of 12 undocumented migrants inside the two vehicles.
Investigators say WhatsApp messages between one of the drivers and a phone number linked to Shivam revealed coordination of smuggling activity on multiple occasions in and before January 2025. The messages allegedly included “proof of life” photographs of migrants and directions to safe houses in upstate New York.
According to the indictment, Shivam is an Indian national. He faces one count of conspiracy to illegally bring aliens into the United States and four counts of illegally bringing aliens into the country for the purpose of private financial gain.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison on each count. A conviction on all four smuggling-for-profit counts carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 15 years, prosecutors said.
Shivam was initially charged by criminal complaint on June 13, 2025, with one count of conspiracy to transport aliens, authorities added.
The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III for the Northern District of New York, and Erin Keegan, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations’ Buffalo Field Office.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
(IANS)
