Three years ago, on January 19, 2022, a Gujarati family consisting of four members tragically froze to death while attempting to illegally cross the US-Canada border in Manitoba. The family had been abandoned by human traffickers in the middle of a snowstorm, with temperatures plunging to -37 degrees Celsius.
The case has now taken a significant turn, with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) uncovering an international human trafficking syndicate.
The syndicate involves at least 260 colleges in Canada that allegedly issued student visas to illegal migrants who sought to take the Canadian route into the United States. The traffickers arranged for migrants to enter Canada on student visas before guiding them to illegally cross the border into the US.
The ED’s money laundering investigation has raised concerns over the role these Canadian colleges played, as the agency probes how much money they generated from facilitating the entry of illegal migrants.
According to the ED, those opting for the student visa route, considered more convenient than the perilous ‘donkey route,’ paid between Rs 50-60 lakh each to the agents responsible for arranging their visas and travel to Canada.
“Investigations reveal that to send Indians to the US illegally, the agents arranged their admission in colleges/universities in Canada and sent them on student visas. Once in Canada, instead of joining the college, they illegally crossed the US-Canada border,” the ED stated.
On December 10 and 19, the ED carried out searches across eight locations in Mumbai, Nagpur, Gandhinagar and Vadodara, targeting several agents connected to this trafficking network.
During the searches, the ED uncovered startling details, including the fact that just two agents based in Mumbai and Nagpur were responsible for sending around 35,000 illegal migrants abroad each year.
The investigation also revealed a vast network of over 1,700 agents in Gujarat alone, with approximately 3,500 agents spread across India. The ED estimates that despite efforts by multiple agencies to crack down on this network, more than 800 agents remain active.
The ED’s probe also discovered that two of the agents involved in the Patel family’s illegal journey had signed agreements with foreign universities and colleges for student admissions, earning commissions on the arrangements.
Once the migrants secured their student visas, they were sent to Canada with the expectation of crossing into the US without attending classes.
During the raids, the ED seized Rs 19 lakh from the bank accounts of the accused, along with a number of documents and digital devices that could aid in the ongoing investigation. The money laundering case is based on an FIR filed by the Ahmedabad police against Bhavesh Patel, one of the agents responsible for arranging the travel of Jagdish Patel and his family in 2022.
The probe into this human trafficking syndicate continues as authorities work to dismantle the network and hold accountable those responsible for the deaths of the Patel family and the illegal migration operation.
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