Peninsula Daily News
news sources
The 76 illegal migrants who were intercepted on a rusting ship on the Canadian side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca paid up to $45,000 (U.S.) each for a new life in Canada, one of their compatriots claimed.
The suspected asylum seekers, who are being held in a Vancouver jail pending refugee claims, are believed to be one of four groups of Sri Lankans in four ships operated by human smugglers, the Vancouver Province newspaper reported today.
Australian authorities said the international human smuggling operation is linked to the notorious Abraham Lauhenapessy, known as Capt. Bram, who has spent the last decade smuggling Sri Lankans, particularly Tamils.
The illegal migrants reportedly paid up to $45,000 U.S. for the Canadian option, which involved the cross-Pacific journey on the Ocean Lady that was intercepted and towed to Victoria on Saturday.
The migrants were taken Sunday to a detention center on the British Columbian mainland.
