Leamington trucker sentenced to three years for smuggling people over Ambassador bridge

Canadian and American flags fly near the Ambassador Bridge at the Canada-USA border crossing in Windsor, Ont. on Saturday, March 21, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Rob Gurdebeke

A judge has sentenced a Leamington trucker to 3 years in jail for smuggling people into the U.S.

Husain Al Kawwaz pled guilty in October to alien smuggling for commercial advantage.

The Detroit Free Press reports that ten Vietnamese citizens were found hiding near his truck during a secondary inspection on August 7, 2024.

Officials say the people didn’t have visas or documentation.

Surveillance video showed Al Kawwaz letting them out of the back of his refrigerated truck when he was pulled in for inspection.

Al Kawwaz admitted to smuggling between 25 and 99 people in the previous four months and was paid $500 per person.