How did US Border Patrol catch Stacey Taylor? New York woman charged with smuggling Indians into America

New York-based Stacey Taylor has been charged for her involvement in an international smuggling conspiracy, as a part of which she smuggled Indians into the US via Canada.

The 42-year-old from New York's Plattsburgh appeared for an arraignment this week after a federal grand jury in Albany indicted her in October for her role in the smuggling ring, an official statement from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said.

According to court records cited in a PTI report, US Border Patrol agents—officers from Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—had stopped Taylor's vehicle at New York's Churubusco area (near the Quebec border) sometime in January this year. 

Four foreign men—three Indian nationals and one Canadian national—had been found in the vehicle, in an attempt to illegally cross the US-Canada border without inspection.

Investigating agencies also found text messages that pointed to her involvement in multiple other smuggling attempts in the days before she was caught and arrested in January. Since her arrest, she has also been named in another smuggling case as recently as September this year.

According to the October indictment, she has been charged with "conspiring with others to engage in alien smuggling and four counts of alien smuggling for profit". Notably, three of these counts were for second (or subsequent) offences.

According to the Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department (Criminal Division), Matthew Galeotti, Taylor could be looking at a mandatory penalty of at least five years' imprisonment—per count of alien smuggling for profit. Second (and subsequent offences) would add to her prison time.

The DOJ statement also highlighted that Stacey Taylor's arrest was a part of the JTFA's efforts under 'Operation Take Back America', a nationwide initiative that utilises DOJ resources to fight illegal immigration and crime.