Regina man charged with human smuggling

Deported from the U.S. then arrested in Saskatchewan, a Regina man charged in an alleged human smuggling operation is free again after he was released on conditions Wednesday.

Victor Omoruyi, 41, appeared in a Saskatoon courtroom after his arrest Tuesday afternoon at the Saskatoon International Airport by the RCMP Integrated Border Enforcement Team.

Omoruyi is charged with one count of human smuggling and one count of aiding or abetting.

The Crown consented to his release on a $3,000 cash recognizance.

Under conditions of release: he is not to contact two named individuals, must maintain a curfew and reside at his Regina residence and can’t leave Saskatchewan without permission from a bail officer.

His next appearance is in Estevan provincial court Dec. 4.

The charges stem from a fourmonth investigation, dubbed Project Fadduce.

Nine Nigerian citizens and asylum seekers were intercepted while crossing into Canada on April 14 between the North Portal and Northgate ports of entry at the Saskatchewan-U.S. border.

His wife, Michelle Omoruyi, 43, was also charged at that time with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling.

The charges are still before court.

In a related matter, Victor Omoruyi was sentenced in August to six months in jail after pleading guilty in a North Dakota district court last spring to transporting an illegal alien.

U.S. court documents signed by border agents say he was arrested April 14 after an SUV was stopped south of the border.

They say Omoruyi told border officers he was going to meet friends and shop in Minot, ND.

They say authorities started watching him because he was identified “as a human smuggler that has previously provided transportation ... for individuals who have then entered into Canada illegally.”

The affidavit details how border agents followed Omoruyi for several hours.

At one point, five adults and four children left a hotel and got into Omoruyi’s vehicle, the U.S. documents say, adding that an RCMP officer saw the nine passengers walk north, through an open field, to Canada and make it to a vehicle waiting to pick them up.

With files from the Canadian Press and the Saskatoon Star Phoenix Postmedia News