Five people were arrested for illegally crossing the New Brunswick-United States border into Limestone, Maine, about 15 kilometres south of Grand Falls on Dec. 23.

Three men from Mexico are being charged with illegal entry into the U.S.

Another Mexican man is being charged with illegal re-entry into the U.S. after a previous deportation, and the driver of the vehicle, who is a U.S. citizen is being charged with alien smuggling.

Jason Schneider, the deputy patrol chief for United States Border Control in Houlton, Maine, said the men crossed the border near Limestone, Maine, which is known to be an area for illegal crossings.

"We've seen a pattern of this, not only in the state of Maine, but also along the entire northern border," Schneider said.

He said there has been a significant increase in illegal border crossings between Canada and the U.S. Since October 2018, Maine has seen a 400 per cent increase in the number of people apprehended at the border.

The vehicle, with two passengers, was spotted by border patrol agents the afternoon of Dec. 21 near an area known to be used as an illegal crossing. Later that evening, the agents saw the same vehicle, this time five occupants.

All five were arrested after the men were questioned, and agents learned that four of them had entered the U.S. illegally.

Schneider said the men had flown from Mexico to Canada under electronic travel authorization that allows Mexican citizens to travel to Canada without a visa, with the intention of entering the U.S.

"It is safer, if you think about it," he said.

"It is much safer and cheaper to be smuggled across the northern border, fly from Mexico into Canada and be smuggled across the northern border as opposed to paying large fees to the alien smuggling cartel organizations along the southwest border, and it's not as dangerous."

The men are now being criminally prosecuted and processed at the Fort Fairfield Border Patrol Station in Maine.