(NewsNation) — A California man has been arrested in connection with what’s described as a human smuggling scheme moving people from Canada into Washington state.
According to the criminal complaint, Rajinder Pal Singh was using Uber to move people across the border.
He allegedly would split the trips into multiple rides on the app to avoid drawing suspicion. In one case, he allegedly brought someone across the border to Seattle-Tacoma Airport, then minutes later accepted another ride from the airport to an address owned by his wife.
Authorities say Singh charged nearly $12,000 for his part in the smuggling operation. He was allegedly caught on video in northern California buying large quantities of Uber gift cards, some of which were used for trips that started near the U.S./Canada border.
According to the investigation, the scheme had been going on since at least 2018 but had slowed down because of the pandemic. Singh was arrested nearly two weeks ago. NewsNation reached out to Uber for comment but so far there has been no response.
