A smuggling arrest is made, 2 years after family froze to death on the Canadian border

By JIM SALTER
Associated Press

A second man is facing federal charges in connection with a human smuggling operation in which a family of four from India froze to death trying to enter the U.S. from Canada. Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel was arrested Wednesday in Chicago. He’s charged with transportation of an illegal alien and conspiracy to bring and attempt to bring an illegal alien to the U.S. The victims were found dead in January 2022. Steve Shand, of Deltona, Florida, was charged with human smuggling, but he told investigators he was working for Patel, and Patel’s lawyer says the complaint merely cites “hearsay statements.”