Akwesasne woman sought in U.S. over drownings of migrants in St. Lawrence River
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MONTREAL — The United States is seeking the extradition of a woman from Akwesasne Mohawk Territory who is alleged to have been a key player in a human smuggling operation tied to the drownings of eight migrants last year.
Stephanie Square, 51, was indicted on nine charges by a grand jury in the Northern District of New York in June in connection with the deaths of a Romanian family of four who were among eight migrants trying to cross the St. Lawrence River.
The Romanian family and four people from India died in late March 2023 while trying to enter illegally into the United States from Canada through Akwesasne Mohawk Territory, which straddles Quebec, Ontario and New York state.
The body of a ninth person — an Akwesasne man allegedly piloting the boat carrying the eight migrants — was found in July 2023.
