MINNESOTA, USA – A Jamaican-born man has been charged in an alleged human-smuggling scheme that resulted in the death of four migrants as they attempted to cross the Canada-United States border in sub-zero temperature.

Steve Shand, 47, of Deltona, Florida, is to appear on Monday via video link before a Minnesota judge on charges of transporting or attempting to transport illegal aliens.

Investigators believe the family of four from India – comprising a man, woman, a teenage boy and an infant – were part of a larger group of Indian migrants crossing into the United States by way of Canada. 

The identities of those who froze to death have not been established, as consular officials met in Winnipeg, Canada to try to locate their family members. 

Citing court documents from Florida as far back as 2018, Canada’s CTV News reported that Shand is a “naturalised citizen originally from Jamaica”, who reportedly filed for bankruptcy more than three years ago.

At the time, he reported assets worth “US$193,343 and liabilities of nearly US$160,000”, while describing himself as an Uber driver.

Shand was charged after the victims, including an infant, who are suspected to be a family from India, perished in the cold “just metres from the border on the Canadian side, near the Manitoba town of Emerson,” reported CTV News.

The bodies of the Indians were found on Wednesday after US Border Patrol officers stopped a van Shand was driving on the American side Highway 75 in Humboldt, Minnesota, near the Canadian border. 

Inside the vehicle, agents said they also found two more “undocumented Indians”.

Additionally, agents apprehended five more migrants in the area, one of whom disclosed that they had been walking in the dreaded freezing temperatures for more than 11 hours.

CTV News said evidence stated in the court documents suggest that more Inidans may have made the deadly trek where Shand’s van was pulled over, as US border patrol officials found boot prints in the snow in that area “twice in December and once in January”.

On the occasions in December, it is suspected that “two groups of four” migrants walked across the border into US and were “picked up by someone in a vehicle,” the report said, citing court documents.

A criminal complaint signed by Homeland Security Special Agent John Stanley indicated that Shand is also suspected in “an investigation into a larger human smuggling operation”.