CORNWALL, Ont. -- Three Ontario residents have been charged with human smuggling after RCMP say Polish nationals were illicitly transported into the United States through a First Nation near Cornwall.

The Mounties say their probe began eight months ago, after U.S. authorities discovered three people from Poland there illegally.

It's alleged the three accused would meet Polish nationals at Toronto's Pearson airport or Trudeau International Airport in Montreal and then drive them to Akwesasne Mohawk Territory.

RCMP say they would then enter the U.S.

Sixty-five-year-old Marek Albinowski of Toronto, 69-year-old Wladyslaw Pipient of Markham, and 58-year-old Robert Fitzsimmons of Cornwall are charged with smuggling-related offences, while Albinowski also faces one count of possession of property obtained by crime

They were due in court on Tuesday.