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A U.S. fugitive has been arrested here in the southwest.

46 year old Gene Paul Hooks AKA Jamie Garza was arrested in Shaunavon on January 10 through a partnership between the RCMP and Canada Border Services.

Hooks first entered Canada on the run back in 2008 and has since that year spent time in all four of the western provinces taking on several different names, most commonly Jamie Klassen Garza.

He was taken to Regina for a court appearance this morning to answer to several fraud and impersonation charges.

 

Here is the official press release from RCMP...

 

In a combined joint agency operation, investigators from both the RCMP & Canada Border Services (CBSA) arrested 46 year old Gene Paul HOOKS on January 10th, 2012 in Shaunavon, SK.  HOOKS is a U.S. national and a wanted fugitive in Texas. He was taken in to CBSA custody on January 10 for immigration violations, and was issued a deportation order for serious criminality on January 13. 
 
Late last year the RCMP Prairie Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET), located in Eastend, was notified by members of the Shaunavon Detachment regarding HOOKS.  The IBET investigators began to research HOOKS' history and determined that he had resided throughout western Canada since first entering Canada in 2008 at Edmonton.  HOOKS has resided in all four western provinces over the past 3 years. 
 
HOOKS was taken into custody by CBSA and transported to Regina for processing.  It should be noted that over the past few years, HOOKS is alleged to have used several aliases throughout his stay in Canada; often he was known as Jamie Klassen GARZA and used many different date of births. 
 
Shaunavon Detachment has charged Gene Paul Hooks with the following Criminal Code charges which are alleged to have occurred at different dates throughout the last six months:
 
Fraud (x2)
Uttering a Forged Document
Forgery
Obstruction
Personation with Intent (x2)
Falsifying Employment Record
Uttering Forged Passport (x2)
Possession of Property obtained by crime
 
Hooks is scheduled to appear in Regina Provincial Court this morning at 9:30 a.m.
 
Donovan Fehr speaks with Sgt. Paul Dawson with the RCMP on the arrest of Gene Paul Hooks...