Chetan Kumar, 24, is accused of assaulting a border officer while smuggling five migrants across the Canada-U.S. border
A 24-year-old Brampton man accused of smuggling immigrants at the Canada-U.S. border faces multiple criminal charges after an RCMP officer was injured while trying to stop his vehicle in Quebec’s Montérégie region.defendant, Chetan KumarThe arrests came after authorities launched a raid earlier this month near Noyan, near the international border.According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) took action after receiving information that five people had illegally crossed into Canada.“On the evening of June 2, 2026, a patrol officer with the Champlain Division Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET) was injured while intercepting the vehicle of a suspected immigrant smuggler,” the RCMP said in a news release on Wednesday.“Following a tip from the United States Border Patrol (USBP), a search operation was launched in the Noyan area of Monteregui to locate five individuals who had just illegally crossed the border,” they added.When an IBET officer stopped Kumar’s vehicle, he refused to stop and deliberately drove his car into the door of the police car. The collision injured the officer before the suspect fled the scene.“It is alleged that the driver failed to stop and intentionally struck the door of the police car, causing injuries to the officer. The driver then fled the scene,” the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.Authorities subsequently arrested Kumar and detained five immigrants. The immigrants were detained under the provisions of the Customs Act and then handed over to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).Kumar was charged with two counts of assaulting a peace officer, dangerous operation of a conveyance and failing to stop after an accident. In a separate RCMP statement on the case, the charges were also described as assault on a peace officer, dangerous conduct and failure to stop after an accident.The Brampton resident remains in custody. “Human smuggling is a criminal activity that spans the globe,” the RCMP said.They added: “Smugglers use illegal means to facilitate and profit from the entry of people into Canada or the United States. By charging passengers large fees for transportation, people smugglers turn illegal immigration into a lucrative business.”
