GEORGETOWN, Guyana,(CMC) - Police here were yesterday awaiting word from the Canadian authorities about an operation reported to have smuggled several people from Guyana into New York, a senior Police official here said.

"I have heard something about four persons being arrested in Canada but as of now we have not had any request from the Canadians for help," the high-ranking Police investigator told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

The Toronto Star newspaper reported at the weekend that four Toronto-area residents were charged with conspiracy to violate United States immigration laws.

Charged are Chandrica Gurprasad, 42, his wife Nalinee Samaroo, 33, and truck-drivers Dasrath Balchand, 59 and Roy Morris, 51. Except for Gurprasad, the three others were released on bail ranging from CDN$20,000 to $50,000.

They were all required to surrender their passports and any travel documents.

Court documents allege the ring transported at least 100 people from Toronto to New York in the past year - possibly hundreds since it began in 1997.

The affidavits claim that nationals of Pakistan, India and Caribbean countries used a route that began in Guyana, passed through Toronto's Pearson International Airport, then continued by truck across the Niagara peninsula into New York state, the newspaper reported.

The affidavits claimed the illegals, who would usually cross in groups of eight to 10, were charged US$13,000 each to go from Guyana to New York via Toronto.

"This was a Guyanese-based organisation that transshipped people through the Caribbean and Canada and into the United States," lead RCMP investigator Inspector Steve Martin was quoted by the Toronto Star as saying.