Human Smugglers Get Prison - Updated

(St. Stephen, New Brunswick) In September 2010, Savita Singh-Murray, 45, was found guilty of conspiracy to induce or encourage people to enter the United States illegally between May 2007 and May 2009.

Singh-Murray was convicted with co-conspirators Mohamed Habin Yusef and Ravindra Hariprasad.

Savita Singh-Murray and Mohamed Habin Yusef were sentenced by Judge William McCarroll to two years in prison. Ravindra Hariprasad received one year in prison due to reduced involvement in the smuggling operation.

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Guyana - Canada - U.S. Smuggling Ring
[Previous 1/30/07 post]
Readers may recall previous posts (here and here) regarding Byron Murray and his wife Savita Singh-Murray being caught trying to smuggle Guyanese nationals into the U.S.

- According to court documents, they were implicated in the past in Buffalo, NY, for smuggling Guyanese nationals into the U.S.

- Savita Singh-Murray, 40, was convicted in September 2005 for attempting to smuggle three Guyanese nationals into the U.S. The Guyanese had entered Canada with forged passports. U.S. District Judge John Woodcock sentenced her to time served, or 132 days in jail, and sent her back to Canada.

- Last week, Byron Murray, 56, was arrested by the RCMP for attempting to smuggle two Guyanese nationals, 40-year-old Deoranie Ramkissoon and a 17-year-old boy, via a train trestle over the St. Croix River into Maine. Arrested with Murray were John Wayne Richardson, 47, and his 20-year-old son John Jason Richardson. All three were released on bail with stipulations that they stay in New Brunswick and check in with the RCMP once a week. The Guyanese are in custody of the Canada Border Services Agency.

Now, it certainly appears that the Murray human trafficking ring is a mom-and-pop operation yet, by its perseverance, one must assume that it has achieved some enduring success. At the same time, one must wonder why Guyanese nationals go through the trouble of sneaking into Canada, arguably a country which is quite accommodating to foreign nationals, only to risk being caught sneaking into the U.S. Since Guyana is known as a transshipment point for illegal drugs and is implicated in international money laundering and human smuggling, I tend to think that there is much more to the story.

Nevertheless, the RCMP's Integrated Border Enforcement Team and the Ministry of Public Safety claim to be on top of border security issues between New Brunswick and Maine. Hopefully, we won't see Byron Murray's nor Savita Singh-Murray's names pop up in the news again.


[Update 04/22/08]

Charges dismissed due to unresponsiveness by U.S. Attorney.