New Delhi: 66 people aboard the Nicaragua-bound plane, which was turned back from France due to suspicions of human trafficking, were from Gujarat and had reportedly agreed to pay Rs 60-80 lakh to immigration agents for illegal passage to the US, according to officials from the state Crime Investigation Department (CID).
Reportedly, the flight from Dubai heading to Nicaragua carried 303 passengers, detained at France’s Vatry airport on December 21 amid concerns of human trafficking. Following authorities’ questioning, the flight was permitted to depart and landed in Mumbai on December 26.
Out of the total 303 passengers, only 276 returned to Mumbai as 27 individuals, including two minors, expressed their intention to seek asylum in France.
Sanjay Kharat, Superintendent of Police, CID – Crime and Railways, overseeing the investigation on Tuesday, said that the 66 people from Gujarat, including some minors, mostly originated from Mehsana, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, and Anand districts.
“We have already questioned 55 of them and recorded their statements. The majority of them studied till classes 8 to 12. Each of them admitted that they had agreed to pay Rs 60 lakh to Rs 80 lakh to the local immigration agents to help them cross into the US illegally after reaching Nicaragua via Dubai,” he was quoted as saying by PTI news agency.
The probe agency has obtained the names and phone numbers of around 15 agents who assured assistance to these 55 people in illegally entering the US through the US-Mexico border.
As per the official, the agents informed the Gujarat natives that they would be required to make the payment only upon reaching the US.
“The agents had told the passengers that their men would take them to the US border from Nicaragua and then help them cross the border. It was also revealed that the agents had also booked air tickets for these passengers and gave USD 1,000 to 3,000 (around Rs 83,300 to Rs 2.5 lakh) to each passenger to deal with any emergency situation,” said Kharat.
Following the agents’ plan, the 66 passengers arrived in Dubai from Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and Delhi between December 10 and 20. Subsequently, they boarded the Nicaragua-bound plane in Dubai under the agents’ guidance, as stated in a release by the CID.
The CID has requested assistance from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to gather additional information about the agents. This includes acquiring details about the agents who obtained the Dubai visa for these 55 passengers, bank information of agents who paid the visa fee, the process agents used to obtain the Nicaragua visa in Dubai, and the person responsible for booking and financing the passengers’ flight from Dubai.
Nicaragua has gained popularity as a destination for those seeking asylum in the US. Flights to Nicaragua or other countries with easy access to travel documents are commonly referred to as ‘dunki’ flights.
According to data from the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), 96,917 Indians attempted illegal entry into the US during the financial year 2023. Among them, at least 41,770 sought entry through the US-Mexico border, as per the data.