Over a dozen individuals have been apprehended attempting to cross into Canada, highlighting the dangers of the US-Canada border, particularly during the harsh winter season. 

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In Alberta, police recently stopped two groups trying to enter Canada illegally, including one group with five children who were inadequately prepared for the extreme cold, with temperatures potentially dropping as low as -30C (-22F).

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Group bound for Alberta 

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Assistant Commissioner Lisa Moreland told reporters in Edmonton that nine people from Venezuela were found trudging through the snow and dragging suitcases. The group was bound for Alberta and made the journey in “incredibly cold” weather. 

A second group, composed of six adults from Jordan, Sudan, Chad and Mauritius, was found in a forest near Manitoba’s border with the US after an RCMP plane using thermal cameras detected them. Neither group had clothing suitable for the frigid conditions.

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Gujarat family froze to death on Canadian border

Moreland speculated that the people may have succumbed to a "heartbreaking situation" comparable to the freezing death of the Patel family, an Indian couple who died with their infant and 11-year-old near the border in 2022. 

Later, in 2024, US authorities arrested an Indian-origin person in Chicago, a key suspect in a 2022 human trafficking case involving the death of the Patel family. Harshkumar Patel was taken into custody at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

Harshkumar was charged with the criminal offence of "transportation of illegal alien and conspiracy to bring and attempt to bring an illegal alien to the United States".

(With inputs from agencies)