Man Charged For Smuggling Illegal Immigrants Through Duluth

A man faces 10 years in jail for smuggling two illegal immigrants into the United States. Marek Jerzy Struzik was charged Thursday with one count of alien smuggling Wednesday. The 31-year-old Polish national was helping two men, from Poland and Slovakia, walk across the Pigeon River from Canada to the Grand Portage State Park earlier this month. He went back to retrieve his vehicle, and was supposed to pick the men up in Grand Portage State Park, however he was arrested at the Grand Marais Border Patrol Station.During his arrest, Struzik told police officers that he was contacted by a Polish man who offered him $2,500 to smuggle the two people into the United States from Canada. The man allegedly paid for Struzik to fly into New York City and eventually to Duluth. On July 25, Struzik took a bus to Thunder Bay, Ontario, and was then instructed to fly to Toronto. He picked up the two men at the airport, drove back to Thunder Bay, and received instructions on how to smuggle the men into the U.S. Struzik's case is being investigated by United States Border Patrol.