Smugglers convicted after Indian family froze to death on US-Canada border

Royal Canadian mounted police at the scene where four people were found dead near the US-Canada border in January 2022. Photograph: RCMP/AFP/Getty Images

A jury has convicted two men of human smuggling charges after an Indian family froze to death attempting to cross the Canada-US border.

After a brief deliberation on Friday, a jury in Fergus Falls, Minnesota delivered the verdict in the case against Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, an Indian national who used the alias “Dirty Harry”, and Steve Shand, 50, an American from Florida. Prosecutors say the pair were part of a broader criminal enterprise that helped migrants cross from Canada into the United States.