A Mexican man is facing federal charges of smuggling himself and a previously deported Irishman, a woman and a child into the U.S. via Canada.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York said Thursday that Andres Carrillo-Hernandez, 27, is facing charges of alien smuggling. The other adult man, Brian Ward, 22, is being charged separately with illegal entry into the U.S., according to court documents.
Federal prosecutors did not name the woman, who was also arrested for illegal entry.
U.S. Border Patrol agents using an infrared camera spotted a raft being inflated on the Canadian shoreline of the Niagara River at Boyers Creek, 13 miles northwest of Buffalo, last Sunday.
Mr. Carrillo-Hernandez, Mr. Ward and the woman are accused of getting on the raft heading for the U.S. shoreline of the Niagara River. The raft was intercepted by the Border Patrol agents, who took Mr. Carrillo-Hernandez into custody, federal prosecutors said.
The child’s cries then alerted the agents to the child, Mr. Ward and the woman. Federal prosecutors said Mr. Carrillo-Hernandez admitted to bringing the three on the raft for $2,000. The three adults are alleged to have entered the U.S. without prior permission.
Mr. Ward is also specifically accused of reentering the U.S. after previously being deported last June.
Mr. Ward, an Irish citizen, had a visa to stay in the U.S. from Sept. 15 to Dec. 13, 2022, but stayed in the country past that date, according to the complaint against him.
He was then arrested in Naperville, Illinois, 30 miles southwest of Chicago, for assault and resisting a peace officer in October 2023 and convicted of disorderly conduct and sentenced to a year of supervision and a fine on March 14, 2024.
Mr. Ward ran into more trouble when Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him in Rhode Island on March 19, 2025. He was subsequently issued a final order of removal and deported, according to the complaint.
Mr. Carrillo-Hernandez is due in court on Tuesday, with Mr. Ward scheduled the next day, according to the calendar for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York.
