Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, Human Smuggling, Minnesota 2022

FERGUS FALLS, MN – In a devastating case of human smuggling, a federal jury has found two individuals guilty of their roles in the tragic deaths of a four-member Indian family.

Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, a.k.a. ‘Dirty Harry’ or ‘Harry Patel,’ 29, and Steve Anthony Shand, 50, were convicted on four counts of human smuggling announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

Between December 12, 2021, and on January 19, 2022, Patel and Shand conspired to smuggle dozens of people across the border of Canada and into the United States as part of a large-scale human-smuggling operation that brought Indian nationals to Canada on student visas.

Patel worked with co-conspirators in Canada to organize the logistics of smuggling trips, while Shand was instructed when and where to pick up migrants just south of the Canadian border in the United States. He then drove them to Chicago.

A heartbreaking twist in the case occurred on January 19, 2022, when law enforcement agents with Homeland Security Investigations responded to a request for assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) based out of Pembina, North Dakota. A white-colored, fifteen-passenger van driven by Shand was stopped less than one mile south of the U.S./Canadian border.

During the stop, law enforcement encountered five Indian nationals approximately a quarter mile south of the Canadian border walking in the direction of where Shand had just been arrested. One of the group members was in possession of a backpack that did not belong to him. The backpack contained children’s clothes, a diaper, toys, and some children’s medication.

Unfortunately, the family that the backpack belonged to was found dead just inside the Canadian side of the international border. Temperatures that night had plummeted to -36 degrees below zero.

U.S. Attorney Luger praised the tenacious work of law enforcement officers involved in the case, including the prosecution team and Homeland Security Investigations. ‘This tragic case is a stark reminder of the horrific realities of human smuggling. The unimaginable suffering endured by this family underscores the urgent need for robust law enforcement partnerships.’

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