A Saskatchewan woman is facing rare human smuggling charges and others are under investigation after Mounties intercepted nine foreign nationals from West Africa who had bypassed formal channels to get into the country.

The case raises the possibility that organized networks of people on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border are being paid to help asylum seekers cross the border illegally.

At a press conference on Wednesday in Regina, authorities said the charges — which come at a time when Canada has witnessed an influx of irregular border crossers — stemmed from a four-month investigation.

“Throughout the course of the investigation, the (Canada Border Services Agency) uncovered evidence to suggest suspected smugglers were allegedly bringing foreign nationals into Canada from the United States by facilitating their illegal crossing between designated ports of entry,” said Jason Evert, a CBSA assistant director.

According to new federal data, the number of asylum seekers caught crossing the border irregularly during the first three months of this year climbed nationwide from 315 in January, to 658 in February, to 887 in March. Most cases occurred in Quebec, Manitoba and B.C. Only five were recorded in Saskatchewan.

The federal public safety minister’s office said in a statement Wednesday that the flow of “spontaneous asylum seekers” represented only a fraction of all newcomers into Canada and that authorities were managing to deal with the increase just fine.

A majority of irregular migrants are U.S. visa holders, meaning they’ve passed American security checks, the statement said. Once in Canada, they undergo further screening.

“To be clear — trying to slip across the border in an irregular manner is not a ‘free’ ticket to Canada.”

But Jean-Pierre Fortin, the head of the union representing Canada’s border officers, has previously complained that the unmanned parts of the vast Canada-U.S. frontier are like “Swiss cheese” and has called for the creation of a dedicated mobile force to patrol the border. Fortin said he didn’t have enough information about the smuggling allegations Wednesday to comment further.

Authorities say their human smuggling investigation started in late December after border officers at the North Portal, Sask., port of entry questioned a man who was returning to Canada from the U.S.

Then last Friday evening, a suspect in that investigation was stopped by U.S. border officers as he attempted to enter North Dakota. They immediately notified their Canadian counterparts.

CBSA, in turn, alerted the RCMP that a “smuggling attempt may be imminent,” Evert said.

About 9 p.m., RCMP stopped a woman driving near the border. Her passengers, nine foreign nationals from West Africa, had entered Canada somewhere between the North Portal and Northgate ports of entry.

They subsequently filed refugee claims with CBSA and were released from custody pending the outcome of their refugee hearings. Authorities would not provide reporters with a breakdown of their ages, gender or nationalities.

On Saturday, police searched a home in Regina and found a significant amount of cash — some in foreign currency, said RCMP Insp. Donovan Fisher.

“We have enlisted the services of our proceeds of crime experts to analyze the money, analyze the situation around which the money was found, and any supporting documents that were included with that, including potentially looking at bank records,” he told reporters.

The woman, Michelle Omoruyi, 43, was charged with one count of human smuggling, in violation of federal immigration laws, and one count of conspiracy to commit human smuggling, in violation of the Criminal Code.

To be clear — trying to slip across the border in an irregular manner is not a ‘free’ ticket to Canada

Linda MacLeod, Omoruyi’s mother, said she first learned of the charges when the news was announced by RCMP. “I know nothing,” she said.

The charges have not been proven. Omoruyi is due in court May 15.

Richard Tessier, reeve of the rural municipality of Coalfields, Sask., near the border, said he was not surprised to hear that migrants were entering Canada in between the North Portal and Northgate ports of entry.

“It’s just a ditch with grass, there’s nothing else there,” he said.

Meanwhile, several more people were arrested by U.S. border officers in North Dakota as part of the same investigation. But details of their arrests were not available Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities would not say how many people might be connected to the suspected smuggling operation.

Lorne Waldman, a Toronto immigration lawyer, told Global News that smuggling charges related to asylum seekers are rare. To obtain a conviction, prosecutors must show that the motivation was money and not humanitarian reasons.

When hundreds of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka showed up on the B.C. coast in 2010 aboard a cargo vessel, RCMP charged several individuals with being part of a smuggling operation.

However, three were found not guilty earlier this year and a mistrial was declared for a fourth person.

Some of those who have recently sought asylum in Canada in such places as Emerson, Man., have told authorities they were motivated to leave the U.S. because of the new Trump administration, fearful their asylum claims wouldn’t be treated fairly or that general anti-immigrant sentiment was rising.