Man arrested for public intoxication faces deportation

An intoxicated Hispanic man was left at the Vernon RCMP detachment Friday evening by a cab driver after an aimless $80 ride.

Police say the man was arrested around 9 p.m. for being drunk in a public place and was lodged in a cell for his own safety. As officers continued to ask questions, the man supplied three different names. 

After calling the Canadian Boarder Service Agency for the Pacific Region enforcement centre and supplying the names, RCMP discovered there was nothing on record to identify the man. An officer spoke to the man in Spanish and learned he was not lawfully in the country, did not have a passport or other form of identification and had crossed the border through the mountains of Montana on foot. He also told police he had been in Canada unlawfully since June. 

The 31-year-old Mexican immigrant has been detained under the Immigration Detention Order. He is expected to be transported to Vancouver today for a deportation hearing.