Gujarat Police escort immigrants deported from the USA upon their arrival at Ahmedabad Airport in Ahmedabad on February 17, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji
Large-scale deportation of illegal immigrants from the United States to India has put the spotlight on human trafficking syndicates. While police forces of many States are looking into the cases, experts suggest that Central agencies like the National Investigation Agency, Central Bureau of Investigation, and the Enforcement Directorate, can step in for a comprehensive probe as such agencies have international tie-ups.
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In several instances, key members of these illegal networks were found to be operating overseas. The victims were made to travel through various countries including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Spain, Prague, El Salvador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, Brazil, Nicaragua, and Mexico, to illegally enter the U.S., as per reports. The Canadian border had also been a preferred route.
Residents of Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir have been among the deportees so far.
The Punjab Police have so far registered 15 cases, alleging that the victims were duped into paying up to ₹50 lakh to facilitate their legal entry into the U.S., while the Haryana Police had instituted 13 cases. The Gujarat Police could launch investigations soon.
“Illegal trafficking cases have drawn attention of the public and media after the U.S. started deporting scores of individuals in military planes under the Trump regime. As most of these individuals are victims of extortion by human trafficking agents operating under the garb of visa facilitators in several States, there is a need for thorough investigation of such rackets and bringing culprits to justice,” said Navneet Rajan Wasan, a former Director-General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development who also headed the NIA.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs may entrust investigation to the NIA, which is especially empowered to investigate human trafficking offences through the amendments in the NIA Act in 2019 and has an Anti-Human Trafficking Division [AHTD], under the relevant provisions of the BNS [Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita], and other laws as these cases have inter-State and transnational ramifications,” he said.
Stating that the Central enforcement agencies were already investigating multiple human trafficking cases with international links, a government official pointed out that the NIA was probing the racket involving trafficking of youth to Laos, Cambodia, and other places for forced work in call centres indulging in cyber frauds.
The local gangs were from States such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and Chandigarh. They were connected to overseas conduits from the United Arab Emirates, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos.
The CBI is also empowered to investigate human trafficking cases, the prominent among them being the one related to trafficking of Indian nationals to Russia on the promise of better employment opportunities. The victims were trained in combat roles and deployed at front bases in the Russia-Ukraine war zone against their wish. The role of several immigration agencies in India and abroad (Dubai) was investigated.
The money laundering aspect of human trafficking cases is probed by the Enforcement Directorate. In one case, the agency recently unearthed the modus operandi of education visas being employed to initially facilitate the travel of victims to Canada and then to the U.S. through illegal means. The traffickers charged around ₹60 lakh per head. Through the same network, the agency suspected that at least 370 people were moved to the U.S.
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The ED cracked down on one syndicate which had sent Indians abroad since 2015. The group charged about ₹75 lakh per head and would create fake papers and passports to hoodwink immigration authorities. The agency found that “hawala” channels were being used and tour and travels firms roped in for the illegal activity. Shell companies had also been set up to route illicit funds.
Another such case pursued by the ED was from Kerala, in which people – mostly nurses – were taken to Dubai. The role of “hawala” operators in facilitating transactions was also detected.
Published – February 20, 2025 11:54 pm IST