(NewsNation) — A border crossing linking Maine to the Canadian province of New Brunswick was shut down Monday night following a police chase.
It was a tense scene and what is typically the quiet town of Houlton, Maine. On Monday, a Rhode Island man refused orders from law enforcement while trying to cross the border into Canada. While chasing the suspect down, a trooper spotted a sign in the truck that claimed an explosive device was on board.
Police say the truck driver was safely taken into custody after a trooper fired at the vehicle as it continued toward the Canadian side of the northern border crossing. That driver has been charged with aggravated reckless conduct, terrorizing and failure to stop.
Officials have not said if any explosive devices were recovered from the scene, but confirmed the public was not in danger.
The incident comes amid growing concerns over the northern border, which has seen a sharp rise in illegal crossings into the U.S. While nearly 200,000 border agents patrol the nearly 2,000 miles that make up the southern border, fewer than 300,000 cover the more than 5,000 miles that divide the U.S. and Canada.
The northern border is on pace for record apprehension totals. This year to date, in fiscal year 2023, nearly 99,000 individuals have been detained compared to fewer than 110,000 in 2022.
The number of individuals on terrorist watch lists being detained at the northern border is on record pace with 295 terror suspects detained nationwide. So far in the 2023 fiscal year, nearly 85% of those were taken at the northern border.
Now while much of the focus on border security is on illegal crossings, there is also growing concern about both drug and human trafficking at the northern border as the cartels continue to search for new ways to avoid detection by U.S. law enforcement.