‘Have identified 15 immigration agents’: Gujarat CID crime
The Hindu
The CID (crime) branch of the Gujarat Police said that it has identified around 15 immigration agents who were reportedly involved in organising an attempt to enter the USA illegally
The CID (crime) branch of the Gujarat Police said on January 2 that it has identified around 15 immigration agents who were reportedly involved in organising an attempt to enter the USA illegally. Agents convinced people to take a chartered Legend Airlines flight to South America for the crossing. The flight was returned en route, from France on suspicion of human trafficking.
The flight which took off from Dubai was detained in France. The CID said the flight bound for Nicaragua had more than 60 people from Gujarat on board. Each of these passengers agreed to pay between Rs 60 lakh to Rs 80 lakh to immigration agents. The agents promised to help them cross into the US illegally after reaching Latin America.
Also read: Illegal Indian migrants | Dream destination, nightmarish journey
According to a senior State Police official, around 66 passengers from Gujarat, have reached their hometowns and police have recorded statements of several people to locate the agents involved.
“We have already questioned 55 of them and recorded their statements. A majority of them have educations ranging from Class 8 to 12. All of them admitted that they 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,” CID (crime) Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjay Kharat told media on Tuesday. Mr Kharat is investigating the case.
During the interrogation police determined that 15 agents and their contacts were involved. They promised to help passengers enter the US illegally through the US-Mexico border.
The Police claimed that the agents lured people by promising to help them into the USA and make all the arrangements including flight tickets, visas and other documents.
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