Canadian Guilty of Smuggling Illegal Aliens into U.S.

(Bangor, Maine) A 39-year-old Canadian mother of three, Savita Singh-Murray, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court to charges of attempting to smuggle three South American illegal aliens into the United States. The three illegals were citizens of Guyana who had entered Canada on forged passports.

This case is intriguing since the reporting has been sparse and sketchy and it appears that Singh-Murray is full of different stories. First she said she was the aunt of the three people, named Awad Hansraj, 21, Lalita Depaul, 18, and a 16-year-old juvenile identified as Sheliza A., and she was taking them into the U.S. for a visit. Then she said that her former boyfriend threatened to kill her husband and children if she didn't do the smuggling. Then her husband, Bryon Murray, said $4,000 was involved in the smuggling.

Further complicating the story are court documents that state Singh-Murray and her husband previously were implicated in the smuggling of Guyanese nationals in Buffalo, N.Y.

Given such scraps of information about the case, it's entirely logical to suspect that Singh-Murray is involved with some sort of ongoing smuggling enterprise. She is originally from Guyana and on two separate occasions has been involved with smuggling Guyanese at two different border checkpoints. The Guyanese seem to have developed a comfortable pathway to illegally enter Canada using forged documents. Upon arrival, it appears that Singh-Murray is tasked with the job of getting them into the U.S.

I customarily eschew conspiracy theories. They take too many people to get things right and they seldom occur without hitches. That said, it sure seems that Singh-Murray is working an ongoing people-smuggling enterprise. As an aside, I wonder why this story hasn't been reported by the mainstream media.

Singh-Murray is being held without bail at the Piscataquis County Jail. She faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count. It's not clear what happens next in the case.