AKWESASNE – A tip from an Akwesasne resident resulted in the arrest of six alleged illegal aliens.

Six citizens of the Dominican Republic were arrested in Hogansburg after being picked up on the U.S. side of the border on the evening of Jan. 29.

At about 10 p.m. that night, a concerned Akwesasne community member called the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police and reported that he saw a man, woman, and two children get into a van driven by two other men at the Bear’s Den restaurant, accoding to a press release from the U.S. Border Patrol Swanton Sector headquarters.

The community member told police he suspected he had witnessed an alien smuggling attempt.

The New York State Police stopped the van shortly thereafter in Hogansburg and requested assistance from U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Massena station.

Border Patrol agents arrived, questioned the occupants of the van and determined that the six were citizens of the Dominican Republic illegally present in the United States. Border Patrol agents arrested them and transported them to the Massena Border Patrol station to conduct interviews and check records.

At the station, agents identified the two men that picked up the four people at the restaurant. One of the men, Ysrael Garcia-Diaz, 27, entered the United States on June 21, 2009 as the fiancé of a U. S. citizen, the Border Patrol statement said. He never married, and his nonimmigrant visa expired on Dec. 1, 2009. Since then, he has been illegally present in the United States, the press release said.

The other man, Justo Garcia-Paulino, 54, claimed to have entered the United States in December 2002 by walking through the desert in Arizona. He then travelled to New York.

The man the police picked up, Moises Pena-Cristopher, 23, applied for a visa on Oct. 23, 2014 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, but no other records were found. He was arrested with his girlfriend, 25, and her two minor children, ages two and four.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York is prosecuting Garcia-Diaz and Garcia-Paulino under 8 USC 1324, Alien Smuggling. They each face up to a year in prison, a $100,000 fine and removal from the United States. Moises Pena-Cristopher is being charged under 8 USC 1325, Improper Entry by Alien. He faces six months in prison, a $5,000 fine and removal from the United States.

“We can’t be everywhere and need the Akwesasne community’s help to keep our people safe,” said Tribal Chief of Police Matthew Rourke in the Border Patrol statement. “Being vigilant and asking community members to call tribal police or Border Patrol when they notice suspicious activity continues to be an important part of our law enforcement capabilities.”

“This is a great example of our integration with state, local and tribal law enforcement partners,” said Patrol Agent in Charge Wade A. Laughman. “The quick response of the New York State Police stopped four illegal aliens from successfully entering the United States.”