A Tamil migrant who served as one of the MV Sun Sea’s dozen crew members should be deported because he was an integral part of the human smuggling operation, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said Thursday.

The migrant – whose name, age, and identifying details can’t be published – appeared before the Immigration and Refugee Board for an admissibility hearing. He’s the first MV Sun Sea migrant CBSA has argued should be deemed inadmissible on human-smuggling grounds, the Globe and Mail reported.

Kenny Nicolaou, CBSA’s hearing representative, said the migrant was contracted to work by the smugglers and, unlike other passengers, did not have to pay thousands of dollars for the voyage. Mr. Nicolaou accused the man of lying to Canadian investigators and said the migrant is the brother of one of the trip’s key organizers.

“Without the 12-man crew and without their contribution, the MV Sun Sea would not have made its way from Thailand to Canada. Those who facilitated the vessel’s journey – in particular the 12 crew members – are culpable of having engaged in the vessel’s transportation of 492 Tamils, contrary to Canadian laws,” he said.

“Based on the foregoing evidence ... the minister submits that grounds exist to find him inadmissible to Canada.”

A handful of admissibility hearings involving MV Sun Sea passengers had been held before Thursday, but all of them involved men accused of being members of LTTE. Two of those men were ordered deported.

The migrant’s testimony was littered with contradictions. At one point, he said he wouldn’t have to pay for the voyage because he prepared food and kept a watch on the engines. At another point, he said he thought his family would pay off his $35,000 debt.

He also at one point denied doing any work on the vessel, saying he simply stood around while others kept the boat headed for Canada.

The MV Sun Sea arrived in B.C. last August carrying 492 Tamils. CBSA has referred about 41 of those cases to the IRB for admissibility hearings.