Castlegar RCMP received a phone call last week from a young male asking to return to his home country of Mexico.

“April 27, a fellow calls 9-1-1 from a pay phone. He doesn’t speak any English,” said Sgt. Laurel Mathew. “Dispatch must’ve had someone that spoke Spanish – we figured out he needed to get back to Mexico.”

After procuring the use of a translator, Castlegar RCMP was able to determine that the man was an illegal immigrant who was smuggled into Canada.

“We got a hold of everyone we needed to – Border Patrol Services and a translator,” said Mathew. “We took him to the airport and he was escorted away.”

Mathew said local police involvement ended with the arrival of Border Patrol Services.

“They’ll take over the case,” she said. “It sounds like he just paid someone to smuggle him into Canada. It looked like this fellow just couldn’t make his way here.”

The young man was in Canada for about a month but was unable to find any employment and decided he wanted to return to Mexico and so called 9-1-1, says Mathew.

“It’s not a huge stretch for that to happen,” she said. “The grass is greener – and then, unfortunately, they can’t make their way. If they come here illegally, it’s not like you can just walk in and get a job or a passport.”