Four “British Hikers” Caught on Golden Road After Illegally Entering U.S. From Canada: Court Records

Four British nationals were apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol agents in a remote stretch of Somerset County woods after illegally crossing from Canada into the United States on April 3, federal court documents filed this week reveal.

One of them captured the whole thing on a GoPro camera, narrating a celebration as the group set foot on American soil.

“I can confirm you are now on US Soil,” Mohammed Sultan Saleh narrated on video as the group crossed through thick forest just a few hundred yards from the St. Zacharie Port of Entry in northwestern Somerset County, according to an affidavit sworn by U.S. Border Patrol Agent Scott Hanton and filed April 7 in U.S. District Court for the District of Maine.

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The bust began with an unlikely pair of informants: two maple sugar workers heading into Canada who spotted four men of apparent Middle Eastern appearance walking south along the Golden Road near mile marker 90 — in the wrong direction to be casual hikers.

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Although the Go Pro recording would show the men indisputably entered the U.S. illegally and intentionally, they initially claimed they were ‘just going for a hike.’

When questioned about their citizenship, all four told agents they were British citizens. They claimed they didn’t know they had entered the United States, a claim the Go Pro recording revealed to be a lie.

After being transported to the Jackman Border Patrol station, the men were identified as Ali Mohammed Ali Abdullah, 18, of Liverpool, England; Hameed Mohammed Nagi; Ibrahim Ayyub Khan; and Mohammed Sultan Saleh — all British nationals, according to court documents.

Their stories didn’t hold up.

Abdullah declined to answer questions. Nagi claimed he was just going on a hike with the group. Saleh echoed that line — but federal agents had already found the GoPro footage on his phone, along with a series of telling Google searches conducted April 3: “bangor from my location,” “boston from bangor,” “new york from boston,” and — critically — “is st zacharie border crossing still used the one near quebec golden road.”

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All four men are charged with one count each of Entry Without Inspection, a Class B misdemeanor under 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(1), which carries a maximum sentence of six months in federal prison and a $5,000 fine. The case is assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge John C. Nivison.

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