Mexican pair sneaking into Canada arrested at border


VIVIAN LUK

VANCOUVER— From Friday's Globe and Mail

Published Thursday, Aug. 25, 2011 9:13PM EDT

Last updated Thursday, Aug. 25, 2011 9:16PM EDT

Two men arrested for trying to sneak across the Canadian-U.S. border near Abbotsford appear to be part of a growing cohort of migrant workers coming illegally into Canada, police say.

U.S. border patrol officers spotted the two, who are from Mexico and said they were migrant workers, about 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday night in a rural, heavily foliaged area south of Abbotsford’s Gladwin Road and suspected that they were trying to sneak across the border. One managed to break free and fled north, leaving behind a duffel bag containing a loaded handgun.

Abbotsford police were contacted, and after an hour-long chase involving a helicopter, canine unit and officers from Abbotsford and the RCMP’s Integrated Border Enforcement Team, the man was found about a kilometre from the border and taken into custody.

“A good number of the people we end up coming into contact with are migrant workers,â€