Inside a derailed human smuggling operation on the Quebec-U.S. border
In a rural farming region south of Montreal, a narrow trail slices through the forest, separating Hemmingford, Que., from Mooers, New York.
Through text messages sent at around 2 a.m. on Jan. 22, 2025, two alleged human smugglers prepare to send clients southbound, from Canada into the United States, through the snow-covered woodlands on foot.
“Be ready. Four people,” says one smuggler preparing for the illegal crossing of his clients.
“Copy,” replies his colleague, who is awaiting their arrival on the U.S. side of the border.
The messages and other details are taken from documents in U.S. federal court cases against an Indian national identified only as “Shivam,” and Bailey Burger, a New York resident. The court records allege Shivam coordinated the smuggling operations and Burger’s job was allegedly to pick the clients up by car after they entered the U.S. from Canada.
Both men face potentially lengthy prison sentences. Burger has pleaded guilty to smuggling-related charges. Shivam has pleaded not guilty. Lawyers for both said they would not comment on the allegations.
The case files, reviewed by the Investigative Journalism Bureau , offer a window into the lucrative, covert industry of illegal migrant smuggling back and forth across the border. While Canadians in recent years have been alarmed at reports of undocumented migrants coming north across the border, many are in fact travelling south, into the U.S.
More than 200 illegal migrants were detained on entry by the U.S. border patrol along the whole northern border in the four months between October 2025 and January 2026, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.
The area allegedly used by Shivam and Burger is five kilometres west of Roxham Road , an unofficial border crossing. Authorities closed the road in 2023, demolishing the RCMP buildings that had been used to process claimants.
Strategies similar on both sides of the border
The strategies and techniques used by smugglers detailed in U.S. court records are similar to those identified in an IJB investigation last year into online smuggling advertisers in Canada.
Those tactics include live location-sharing via cellphones to coordinate operations; safe houses for temporary shelter; and the use of proof-of-life images that may also double as client “testimonials” on social media to attract new customers.
The use of code words and slang is another common element used to signal a threat.
As Shivam and Burger allegedly ran their nighttime venture last year, Shivam shared text messages that read: “Mission abort … Bp.”
Authorities believe “Bp” means Border Patrol, according to the criminal complaint against Shivam. The court records say these messages prove the men were “aware of police presence and … attempting to evade law enforcement.”
Despite that close call, the clients apparently eventually made it through. At 7 a.m. local time, Burger sent a photograph of four people dressed in winter gear, safely deposited on the American side. Officers say in court documents that these are “proof of life” images, showing the clients had reached their destination.
It’s unclear who accompanied the clients on the Canadian side of the border.
Just a few days after the border crossing, on Jan. 26, U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Burger of nearby Chazy, N.Y. On his phone, authorities allegedly found conversations with Shivam in which they discussed a conspiracy to “unlawfully transport undocumented migrants into the U.S. from Canada,” according to the criminal complaint against Shivam.
“Based on the sheer number of messages and photographs exchanged, (Shivam) and Burger successfully smuggled migrants into the U.S. on multiple occasions,” the complaint reads.
CBP spokesperson Ryan Brissette declined to elaborate on the case, due to “the sensitive nature of ongoing human smuggling investigations with our federal and international partners.”
Text messages allegedly sent between Shivam and Burger, spanning roughly a month of smuggling operations prior to the Jan. 22 crossing, demonstrate how the live location method works in real time.
On Dec. 21, 2024, Shivam texted Burger “hello,” then sent a live location indicating a point 14 kilometres from Covey Hill, according to the criminal complaint against Shivam.
“3 adult. 2 girls …1 9 month (pregnant) gurl (sic),” Shivam wrote. “Be ready at safe house.”
The U.S. criminal complaint alleges safe houses are used to let new entrants keep a low profile immediately after they arrive in the U.S.
At 1:16 a.m. on Jan. 11, 2025, Shivam first messaged Burger, “bro can you pick (up) from…” He then sent a live location icon indicating “a group of individuals situated between Hemmingford Road and Hogle Road,” according to the court files. These roads run parallel to each other along the Canada-U.S. border at Hemmingford, Que. and Mooers, N.Y.
The court files then describe green dots, sent by Shivam, that “indicate the group will be travelling to Hemmingford Road (on the U.S. side of the border).”
Suspicious vehicles
On Jan. 26, 2025, four days after the close call with authorities, U.S. border patrol spotted a black Chrysler 300 sedan travelling alongside a Ford Flex SUV. Both vehicles’ back windows were fogged up, according to the criminal complaint against Burger, who was said to have been driving the sedan.
The condensation indicated there were “likely soaking wet individuals in the vehicle, likely from walking through the deep snowy wooded area near the US/Canada international border,” the criminal complaint against Burger reads.
As an officer turned on his emergency lights and siren, the cars blasted through an intersection and a pursuit ensued.
When the SUV attempted a sharp right turn, it flew off the road into a snow ditch. Its driver, U.S. citizen Karl McMullen, attempted to flee on foot. When apprehended, he behaved in an “incoherent erratic manner,” according to a criminal complaint, claiming to officers that an unspecified “they” had held him at “gunpoint.”
Agents found eight clients “packed in on top of one another with no seat belts or proper seating” in the SUV, according to the complaint. The group was made up of six U.K. nationals and two Indian nationals; one of the travellers was as young as seven. McMullen’s lawyer declined comment on this story.
When Burger’s sedan also braked during the chase, several people bailed out and ran off into a campground. After a further pursuit over some 30 kilometres, Burger surrendered. Records show he “immediately complied and apologized” as agents handcuffed him. He told officers the trip had been his fourth smuggling run, and that he was being paid $100 U.S. per client to cover the costs of a drug addiction.
Between the two vehicles, 12 undocumented migrants were apprehended.
Burger pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling, and three counts of alien smuggling. He faces years in prison and a potential $250,000 U.S. fine.
Shivam is charged with five overall counts related to human smuggling. He has pleaded not guilty, and his case continues through the courts. According to a U.S. Department of Justice press release, if convicted of four counts of bringing aliens illegally to the U.S., he would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 15.
McMullen, who pleaded guilty to four smuggling-related charges, awaits sentencing.
The Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB) at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health is a collaborative investigative newsroom supported by Postmedia that partners with academics, researchers and journalists while training the next generation of investigative reporters.
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