WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th September, 2020) The US authorities in conjunction with their Brazilian counterparts have arrested the alleged Iranian-Canadian leader of an international smuggling ring, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement.
US law enforcement alleges that Reza Sahami was involved in smuggling individuals, primarily from Iran, into countries in the Americas for more than ten years.
"The alleged leader of a major human smuggling organization that had smuggled individuals from the middle East (primarily Iran) into South America, the United States, Canada and Europe was arrested Friday," the statement said.
The suspect was arrested as he led a group of seven Iranian nationals - all in possession of fraudulent or altered passports from Israel, Denmark and Canada - through the municipality of Assis Brasil in the western part of the country, the statement added.
The investigation and operation involved US Immigration and Custom Enforcements' Homeland Security Investigations unit, Brazil Federal Police and Interpol National Central Bureau in Brazil, according to the statement.
