The Canadian authorities are still investigating possible human smuggling crimes stemming from the arrival of MV Ocean Lady, 10 months ago.

The MV Ocean Lady — formerly the MV Princess Easwary — showed up in waters off Vancouver Island last October carrying 76 Tamils. All have since been released from custody as the refugee-determination process unfolds.

The Canadian Press quoting Const. Michael McLaughlin, an RCMP spokesman in British Columbia said, Canadian police are in the midst of a complex international investigation into that case.

McLaughlin said there's a "pretty evident possibility of human smuggling" and possibly human trafficking in the file, but maybe other offences as well.

"Anything from assault to sexual assault to extortion — anything that may have happened that we believe meets the criteria for criminal charges, we've got to forward that information to the Department of Justice," he said.

"Are we there yet to release those reports? No."

Cases that involve multiple agencies are often vexing, said McLaughlin.

"They tend to be a lot more complicated. It's not simply a matter of one person who has committed one or even several offences that you can focus on," he said.

The delay underscores the difficulties authorities face in piecing together evidence in cases involving numerous players and agencies around the globe — a challenge the Conservative government is confronting anew with the arrival of the MV Sun Sea, the latest ship to land on the West Coast.

"Because there's an international component, there is going to be some evidence that we can't just collect in Canada that it's got to be collected outside of our borders. That takes time.

"We've got to make sure we've got witnesses, we've got to make sure we've got victims, we've got to tie all the financing together," he said. "So even if charges only go out against one or a few people, there are many people involved in that."

The Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said Monday the MV Sun Sea migrants who arrived by freighter last week paid as much as $40,000 or $50,000 each for the passage, resulting in a massive money haul for the smugglers that brought them to Canada.

"It's clear that this is part of a broader organized criminal enterprise," he said, adding there are suggestions the Tamil Tigers were behind the vessel.

Toews said he's not sure if every passenger paid the same fare, but either way, he said the voyage was organized to "maximize profit."

"This was a very profitable undertaking, even if the boat is eventually seized."

The Sun Sea migrants arrived in Victoria after the freighter was escorted by Canadian authorities into harbour at CFB Esquimalt near Victoria on Friday morning.

They spent the weekend being interviewed and given health checks before being shipped to detention facilities in the Vancouver area.

RCMP confirmed a 37-year-old man died of an unspecified illness during voyage, about three weeks before the ship came into Canadian waters.

All those aboard have claimed refugee status and one of the main duties of the RCMP now is to determine whether human smugglers or Tamil Tigers are among them.