NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday carried out searches at 13 locations across Punjab, Haryana and Delhi as part of its money-laundering probe into an illegal immigration racket linked to the deportation of 330 Indians from the United States earlier this year.
The action follows an investigation into a network that allegedly facilitated the illegal transport of Indians to the US through the so-called dunki route. “The racket involved illegally transporting Indians to the US through the dunki route. A probe revealed that the deported Indians sent to the US were facilitated by a complex web of persons involved in the chain including travel agents, middlemen, overseas associates, hawala operators and other logistics arrangement providers,” an ED official said.
In February, US military aircraft carrying 330 Indians—most of them from Haryana, Punjab and Gujarat—were sent back as part of a crackdown on illegal immigration by the administration of former US President Donald Trump. Videos released by US border patrol authorities showed the deportees in handcuffs, with their legs chained.
The ED’s money-laundering case is based on 19 FIRs registered by the Punjab and Haryana Police against travel agents and middlemen accused of cheating Indians attempting to enter the US illegally. Investigators said the deportees had tried to cross the US–Mexico border between January 23 and 28 but were apprehended by US border security personnel and placed in detention centres before being deported.
Sources said that evidence gathered during searches conducted in February and July led to the identification of “second and third layer” operatives involved in the human trafficking network. “The name of several travel firms surfaced in the investigation following which raids were conducted on Thursday at its offices in Haryana, Punjab and Delhi,” an ED official said.
The agency had earlier recorded statements of the deportees, which helped identify suspects now under scrutiny. According to investigators, each deportee paid between Rs 45 lakh and Rs 55 lakh to travel agents, most of whom they had never met directly and were connected to through local intermediaries. The deportees provided documents, including bank account details of the agents who received the payments.
Recently, the ED provisionally attached movable and immovable assets worth Rs 5.41 crore, allegedly representing proceeds of crime generated by agents Shubham Sharma, Jagjit Singh and Surmukh Singh, who are accused of being part of the trafficking racket. The attached properties include agricultural land, residential and business premises, and bank accounts held in the names of the accused and their family members.
In July, the agency conducted searches at offices and residences of suspects in 11 cities, including Amritsar, Sangrur, Patiala and Moga in Punjab, and Ambala, Kurukshetra and Karnal in Haryana. During those raids, officials seized fake immigration and visa stamps.
In a separate investigation, the ED is probing the alleged involvement of certain Canadian colleges and several Indian entities—mostly based in Gujarat—in a money-laundering case related to trafficking Indians into the US via the Canada border, sources said.
Officials noted a sharp rise in illegal immigration from India along the US–Canada border, with more than 14,000 Indian migrants arrested there over the past one-and-a-half years. According to estimates by US authorities, over 725,000 undocumented Indians currently live in the US, many driven by economic pressures and long waiting periods for legal immigration.
The agency suspects that some Canadian colleges were complicit in the racket. According to officials, agents applied for Canadian student visas for individuals intending to enter the US. Once in Canada, instead of joining colleges, they allegedly crossed the US–Canada border illegally. Investigators believe that a few of the 262 such colleges in Canada—particularly those located near the US border—may be involved in the trafficking of Indian nationals.
Many victims were allegedly charged between Rs 55 lakh and Rs 60 lakh per person. The ED has claimed that fees paid to Canada-based colleges were later remitted back to the individuals’ accounts, pointing to a circular flow of funds under investigation.