Steve Shand, 47, has been charged with human smuggling on Thursday after seven Indian nationals were discovered in the US and four bodies were found, including an infant and a teen near the US border in Manitoba.

Officials suspect the four had attempted to cross during a blizzard.

Court records showed one individual spent a large amount of money to enter Canada on a forged student visa. John Stanley, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, revealed that the investigation was still ongoing "along with an investigation into a larger human smuggling operation of which Shand is suspected of being a part."

On Wednesday, a US Border Patrol agent in North Dakota halted a van south of the Canadian border that Shand was driving. According to court filings, he was with two illegal Indian nationals.

Around the same time, five additional persons were observed by law officers in the snow nearby. Officers learned that the group, which included Indian nationals, had been trekking for more than 11 hours outside in subzero temperatures.

As she was being carried to the hospital, a woman stopped breathing numerous times and will undergo a partial amputation of her hand. Another man was also admitted to the hospital with frostbite.

One of the men in the group was carrying a rucksack with baby necessities. According to court records, he informed investigators that it belonged to a family that had been separated from the group overnight.

According to RCMP Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy, who spoke at a press conference in Winnipeg on Thursday, investigators immediately began searching the region when Mounties were advised that the family could still be in Manitoba.

She claimed authorities discovered three dead together — a man, a woman, and a baby — barely 10 meters from the border near Emerson, Manitoba, after a lengthy search. A teen boy's body was found shortly afterward.  

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“It is an absolute and heartbreaking tragedy,” MacLatchy said.

"What I am about to share is going to be difficult for many people to hear," RCMP Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy said at a news conference in Winnipeg on Thursday. "It is an absolute and heartbreaking tragedy."https://t.co/qB1hMfQvUd

— Patricia A Logan 🇨🇦 (@PatLoganTBay) January 21, 2022

“These victims faced not only the cold weather but also endless fields, large snowdrifts, and complete darkness,” MacLatchy added.

Shand was arrested on Wednesday and is still being held. According to court filings, American police believe Shand was engaged in further border crossings, including two events in December.

According to officials in both nations, attempts to cross into Canada from the US are much more common than vice versa. After former Donald Trump was elected in 2016, foot border crossings into Canada rose.

After attempting to cross into Manitoba, Canada, two men lost their fingers to severe frostbite in December. A few months later, on the American side of the border, a lady died of hypothermia. A pregnant woman who ventured across the border in 2019 was rescued after becoming stranded in a snowbank and going into labor.

Emmerson-Franklin Reeve Dave Carlson says unlawful crossings have decreased dramatically in recent years. He was taken back when he learned of the four deaths.

"If you look at the political climate on both sides of the border, it’s just mind-boggling to me that anyone had that sense of desperation to try and cross in extreme conditions.”

The Kittson County Sheriff's Office in Minnesota, according to Deputy Patrick Klegstad, is aiding the American side of the inquiry. Every day, its police monitor the "desolate" wide fields along the border, he added, and the region where individuals crossed is dangerous, especially in the winter.

“Why they picked that spot to travel would be the million-dollar question.”