Plane carrying 300 Indians grounded in France over human trafficking suspicion

French authorities grounded a Nicaragua-bound plane carrying 300 Indian passengers on suspicion of ‘human trafficking’, AFP reported. The authorities in France informed that the plane was grounded over suspected "human trafficking". 

The AFP report stated that the plane had taken off from the United Arab Emirates. The flight, carried out by Romanian charter company Legend Airlines, had departed from Dubai and landed at the small Vatry airport on Thursday afternoon for a technical stopover when police intervened, the Marne prefect's office said in a statement.

The aircraft carrying passengers "likely to be victims of human trafficking" was detained on Thursday after an anonymous tipoff, the Paris public prosecutor's office told AFP.

The national anti-organised crime unit JUNALCO has taken over the investigation. A unit specialising in organised crime is investigating suspicions of human trafficking and arrested two people for questioning, the Paris public prosecution office said, adding that authorities had been tipped off by an anonymous informant.

The prefecture in the northeastern department of Marne said the A340, operated by Romanian company Legend Airlines, "remained grounded on the tarmac at Vatry airport following its landing".

According to a people familiar with the case, the Indian passengers might have planned to travel to Central America in order to attempt illegal entry into the United States or Canada.

Legend Air has a small fleet of four aircraft, according to the Flightradar website.

The plane had been due to refuel and was carrying 303 Indian nationals who had probably been working in the UAE, it said.

After landing in France, they were first kept on the aircraft, but then let out and given individual beds in the terminal building.

The entire airport was cordoned off by police.

The Vatry airport, located 150 kilometres (90 miles) east of Paris, serves mostly budget airlines.

Human trafficking carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in France.

(With agency inputs)