Over 200 Canadian colleges involved in trafficking Indians into US, ED launches probe

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Tuesday said that it was probing the involvement of over 200 Canadian colleges in an alleged human trafficking case.

The ED's Ahmedabad Zonal Office conducted search operations on December 10 and 19 at eight locations in Mumbai, Nagpur, Gandhinagar and Vadodara under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The searches were part of the ongoing probe in the case of "Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel and others [Dingucha case] for hatching a well-planned conspiracy, to send the victims/persons to USA through Canada via illegal channel thereby committing the offence of human trafficking," the statement released by the ED on Tuesday said.

It added that bank accounts to the tune of around ₹19 lakh were frozen, and various other incriminating documents and digital devices were seized. Two vehicles were also seized.

The ED said it initiated an investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by DCB, Crime Branch, Ahmedabad City, Gujarat, against Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel and others after a family of four Indian nationals from Dingucha village in Gujarat was found dead on the Canada-US border on January 19, 2022.

"All the accused, in conspiracy with each other, lured the innocent Indian nationals by charging them huge amounts of ₹55-60 lakh per person, for causing them to illegally enter the US through Canada," the agency said.

The ED investigation revealed that for sending the Indian nationals to the US illegally, the accused arranged admission of the individuals in colleges and universities based in Canada and thereby applied for student visas for Canada.

"Once the individuals/students reach Canada, instead of joining the college, they illegally crossed the US-Canada Border and never joined college(s) in Canada," the ED said.

"In view of it, the fee received by colleges based in Canada was remitted back to the individuals’ account. It is gathered that two entities based in Mumbai and Nagpur have entered into an agreement for admission of students in universities based in foreign countries on a commission basis with an entity, which was contacted by a desirous student for immigrating to the USA illegally," the probe agency added.

The ED said it was revealed during searches that as many as 25,000 students were being referred by one entity and more than 10,000 students by another to various colleges based outside India every year.

"Further, it is gathered that there are around 1,700 agents or partners based in Gujarat and around 3,500 agents or partners of the other entity all over India, out of which around 800 are active," the ED said.

"It is further revealed that around 112 colleges based in Canada have entered into an agreement with one entity and more than 150 with another entity. Their involvement in the case is under investigation," it added.