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Feds: Canadian truck driver smuggled 10 Vietnamese into US in trailer

Portrait of Christina Hall Christina Hall
Detroit Free Press

A Canadian truck driver was accused in federal court Friday of smuggling 10 citizens of Vietnam into the United States inside the commercial trailer of his semitrailer.

Husain Al Kawwaz, a citizen of Canada, told an investigator in an interview that he was to be paid $5,000 upon his return to Canada after successfully smuggling the people into the U.S., according to a federal enforcement officer's affidavit filed with a criminal complaint in U.S. District Court in Detroit. The alleged incident occurred Wednesday in Detroit.

The complaint listed the offense against Al Kawwaz as alien smuggling for commercial advantage and private financial gain. .

Al Kawwaz was temporarily detained during an initial appearance Friday in federal court. A detention hearing is set for Tuesday, according to court records.

Attorney Elizabeth Young, who represented Al Kawwaz at his initial appearance, said Friday that he doesn't have any criminal history. She said he has a family that he loves and that he has a "very loving, supportive family." She said she thought release while the case proceeds would be appropriate.

The affidavit stated that Al Kawwaz, 34, a native of Iraq, applied for admission to the U.S. at the Fort Street Cargo Facility in Detroit about 11:32 p.m. Wednesday.

He drove up to a booth for inspection by a Customs and Border Protection officer and appeared to be the sole occupant of the semitruck, per the affidavit.

The officer referred him and his truck to secondary inspection for an X-ray examination of the truck and agricultural inspection of his commodity, which was fresh produce from Canada. The affidavit stated Al Kawwaz drove from the primary inspection booth to the parking lot within the port of entry that is designated for trucks awaiting secondary inspection.

About 12:30 a.m. Thursday, it stated, perimeter security team officers found 10 people, later identified as citizens of Vietnam, hiding within the secondary inspection parking lot.

Officers initially couldn't get answers about how they arrived because of a language barrier. Their passports revealed they had no U.S. visas or other documents that would allow them to enter the U.S., according to the court record.

About 1:25 a.m. Thursday, Al Kawwaz completed his secondary inspections, per the affidavit, and was released with his truck into the U.S.

About 2 a.m. Thursday, a Customs and Border Protection supervisory officer reviewed recorded security camera footage to determine where the people came from and saw a large group walk away from Al Kawwaz's truck after he parked in the secondary inspection parking lot and exited his vehicle, according to the affidavit.

It stated that about 25 minutes later, officers contacted Al Kawwaz's dispatcher and requested he return to the port of entry, which he did. He was advised of his Miranda rights verbally and in writing, which he acknowledged, per the affidavit, and he agreed to answer questions without a lawyer present, an interview the investigator stated was video and audio recorded.

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During the interview, Al Kawwaz claimed this was his first time smuggling people to the U.S. after he was approached 'a week or 10 days earlier' at a truck stop in Windsor with the offer to smuggle people for $5,000.

He told the investigator he brought the people with him from Windsor, concealed in his commercial trailer. He stated to the investigator he was to be paid upon his return to Canada after successfully smuggling them into the U.S., according to the affidavit.

Al Kawwaz stated he picked up the people in Windsor right before coming to the U.S. and that, after they entered his semitrailer, he applied a seal on the exterior of the trailer doors to secure them.

After he was referred for secondary inspection, per the affidavit, he stated he parked his truck in the secondary inspection lot, got out, removed the seal from the trailer and "gestured for the 10 individuals to get out of the trailer."

He stated he planned to complete his secondary inspection and return to the truck lot to pick up the people, but when he did so, they were not there so he left without them, per the affidavit. Court records did not reveal the status of the Vietnamese.

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.

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