Smuggler’s Inn owner accused of aiding illegal border crossings says he’s an ICE informant
The owner of the Smuggler’s Inn Bed and Breakfast in Blaine, who is accused of helping several people illegally enter Canada, claims he was an informant for U.S. immigration officials and that they knew of his activities for years.
According to an Oct. 1 story by Canadian media outlet GlobalNews.com, Robert Joseph Boulé has filed a civil case in U.S. Federal Court in Seattle. Global News obtained documents from that case, and in sworn testimony Boulé says he was an informant for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency known as ICE and the U.S. Border Patrol, providing information about who was crossing into Canada from his property.
Boulé claims he has been assisting the U.S. Border Patrol since 2003 with information about his hotel guests, Global News reports, adding that he said his information resulted in “numerous” arrests.
The U.S. Border Patrol denied that Boulé was working as an informant to Global News, and ICE reportedly refused comment to the news organization.
Meanwhile Boulé’s trial on 21 charges for allegedly helping people illegally enter Canada through his Smuggler’s Inn Bed and Breakfast property located along the U.S.-Canadian border has slowed due to Boulé’s challenge on the constitutionality of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, according to a Sept. 16 story by the Peace Arch News.
Boulé is alleging that three sections of the act infringe a portion of the charter, and in particular the right to life, liberty and security of the person, the Peace Arch News reported.
The rest of the trial in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver is on hold while that challenge is being heard, according the Peace Arch News.
Boulé was arrested in April of 2019 for reportedly attempting to help seven people illegally cross the border into Canada between May 2018 and March 2019, according to the Surrey Now-Leader at the time. He was originally set to face 30 charges, but nine were stayed in June 2019.
Boulé’s bail was set at $15,000 in April 2019 in Surrey Provincial Court and he returned to his Smurggler’s Inn property, but part of the conditions for his release included him denying any customers who gave indication they planned to enter Canada, and he had to erect a sign on his property stating it was illegal to enter Canada through his property.
Boulé also needed to cancel his existing phone numbers and email accounts, provide his new passwords to his bail supervisor and provide call logs and text messages once a month on his new phone lines, CTV News Vancouver reported at the time.
In July of 2019, Boulé’s application to have his defense funded by the Canadian government was granted, according to a story by the Victoria News. The “Rowbotham application” is an option for people who can’t afford a lawyer who are facing complex criminal charges and have been denied legal aid.
Smuggler’s Inn history
In 2012, Boulé told The Bellingham Herald that approximately 60 people per year are arrested going through the Smuggler’s Inn yard after a Canadian woman, who was arrested at the Inn in December of 2011 with a vanity plate that read “SMUGLER” on her car, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle to conspiracy and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
In 2014, Boulé announced that he would offer tours of the recreational and medical sides of the marijuana industry in Whatcom County for guests at the inn in his 38-foot stretch limo.
“It’s not a party type situation at all,” Boulé told The Herald at the time. “What we’re trying to do is get people who are interested, who have a need to learn more. We’re stressing the educational part.”
In a 2017 story by The Seattle Times, Boulé said he often saw people crossing the border, though he said at the time he didn’t help them cross and that he made sure anyone who stayed at the Smuggler’s Inn has been legally allowed into the United States.
“At that point in time, our responsibilities have been taken care of,” Boulé told The Times.
