Canada’s military has been conducting surveillance of the Akwesasne Mohawk community on the U.S.-Canada border according to “confidential” reports released to APTN National News.
Another portion of the community, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, sits entirely in the U.S. and runs the Mohawk Casino Resort in Hogansburg New York, but the casino is not mentioned in the government reports.
The documents are counter-intelligence reports from 2012 to 2015 and information in the reports are heavily redacted. They show that the Canadian Forces National Counter Intelligence Unit regularly mentioned Akwesasne as part of its “threat information collection,” according to APTN.
The documents were obtained by APTN under the Access to Information Act.
The uncensored portions of the reports provide no explanation as to why military intelligence monitors Akwesasne, which is already under heavy surveillance from the Canada Border Services Agency, the RCMP, OPP and the Sûreté du Québec on the Canadian side, according to the report.
U.S. Homeland Security, along with U.S. Border Patrol and the Drug Enforcement Administration also reportedly monitor the American side of the community.
The reports do suggest that the community is suspected of smuggling of contraband such as counterfeit cigarettes and weapons, but most of the information on the surveillance has been redacted.
