A Gujarati family froze to death in January 2022 while trying to cross illegally the US-Canada border in Manitoba following their agents left them in a snowstorm. But, now a money laundering case investigation by the Enforcement Directorate against those agents has uncovered an international gang of human traffickers which includes 260 colleges in Canada, according to the media reports.
These colleges issued student visas to illegal migrants to take the Canadian route to the United States. Those who preferred the student visa path over the ‘dunkey route’ paid approximately Rs 50-60 lakh to agents to secure their visa and go to Canada before being “pushed” into the US. The investigation into Canadian colleges’ financial interactions with “illegal migrants” is ongoing.
“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. The probe agency said, “Once in Canada, instead of joining the college, they illegally crossed the US-Canada border”.
On the 10th and 19th of December, the Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at eight locations in Mumbai, Nagpur, Gandhinagar, and Vadodara for agents involved in facilitating illegal migration through Canadian colleges. On Wednesday, the ED said that two agents based in Mumbai and Nagpur sent about 35,000 illegal migrants abroad annually. The investigation revealed that 1,700 agents or partners in Gujarat and 3,500 across India have been involved in the racket. Despite a multi-agency operation, ED said that over 800 agents are still active.
The ED had previously filed a complaint under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel, the primary accused in the case, and several other people after receiving a police FIR from the Ahmedabad police. The ED said, “A probe revealed that Bhavesh Patel and others had allegedly hatched a well-planned human trafficking conspiracy to send Indians to the US through Canada via illegal channels. As part of the modus operandi, the accused got youths who wanted to go to the US illegally admitted to colleges and universities in Canada”.
According to the media reports, illegal immigration from India has increased along the US-Canada border, with over 14,000 Indian migrants arrested in the last year. As per US estimates, there are around 725,000 undocumented Indians in America. Interestingly, in may 2024, it was reported that the two of the three persons accused of killing Separatist terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar entered Canada on student visas. Kamalpreet Singh and Karan Brar arrived in Canada from India’s Punjab on student visas in 2019. Brar started studying at Calgary’s Bow Valley College on 30th April 2020. He moved to Edmonton on 4th May 2020.
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