Authorities feared man arrested in smuggling scheme that led to deaths at border would flee: court documents

Authorities say a adult male lately arrested in Ontario in connectedness with a human smuggling connive dropped a family of four off near the Manitoba-U.S. Border and told them to walk through blizzard conditions when their van got stuck in a remote, snow-covered area on the January 2022 night they froze to death.

The update comes nearly four years after the Patel family — no relation to Fenil Patel — died of hypothermia while attempting to cross illegally into Minnesota, near Emerson, Man.

The frozen bodies of 39-year-old Jagdish Patel, his 37-year-old wife, Vaishali, their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi, and their three-year-old son, Dharmik, were found just 12 metres from the U.S. Border, after they got separated from the larger group of migrants they were with.

The U.S. would have "limited ability to arrest and extradite him" if he fled to India, the documents say, noting that while the two countries have an extradition treaty, "U.S. Authorities understand that India is not a co-operative partner in extradition."

Alleged human smuggler living near Toronto arrested

Court documents in the case also reference information related to Fenil Patel raised during the trial of Steve Shand and Harshkumar Patel (also no relation), the two men already convicted and sentenced for their roles in the smuggling scheme. 

That includes an allegation that on the night he dropped them off near the border, the family who died called Fenil Patel for help because it was too cold.

A co-operating witness also told authorities that while travel agents in India co-ordinated migrants' travel to Canada, Patel helped them get Canadian student visas — and sent their names, photos and flight information to the witness, who would then help get the migrants across the border illegally, court documents say.

After the Patel family's bodies were found, the co-operating witness said he also had a conversation with Fenil Patel where Patel "panicked and stated that his … phone number was not going to work, which [the witness] understood to mean that [Patel] planned to change his phone number."

The Fifth Estate questions Fenil Patel

Patel did not respond to a number of attempts to interview him over a year ago. When a crew from The Fifth Estate questioned him in front of his home, he turned and walked inside without any response.

Extradition experts who reviewed the court documents in Patel's case say how long the extradition process might take is anyone's guess.

Tony Paisana, a partner at Peck and Company Barristers in Vancouver, said in some instances, for example, a person will consent to extradition, ending the process immediately.

But in others, the process can drag out for years, between arguments over whether authorities' actions were legal and any subsequent appeals.

The fact that Fenil Patel was taken into custody through what's known as a provisional arrest warrant — which is done in cases of urgency, before the other country files an official extradition request — could drag things out too, since the U.S. Then has 60 days to file that, he said. 

Robert Currie, a professor of transnational criminal law at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said it's typical in Canada for most extraditions to happen quickly.

That's often because people agree to be extradited — either as part of a plea deal, or to focus their energy on their criminal defence — or because they can't afford the kind of legal representation they need to fight the process.

As for why it took so long for the extradition process to begin for Patel, Currie said that's even harder to tell.

"Undoubtedly, they were being careful because they didn't want to spook the individual, or for him to get wind of the investigation and perhaps flee," Currie said.

"Beyond that, you know, the wheels of justice just grind slowly sometimes, and these delays often go unexplained. And there are often good reasons for them — but sometimes there are just bureaucratic reasons."

Patel's case is expected to appear in court again in Ontario Friday.

Reporter

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