New Delhi: Three years ago, on January 19, 2022, a Gujarati family (39-year-old Jagdish Patel, his wife Vaishali (35), daughter (11), and son (3)) arrived in the United States. and froze to death at the Canadian border. He is in Manitoba attempting to enter the United States illegally. The traffickers left the family in the middle of a snowstorm at -37 degrees Celsius.
Three years later, an ED money laundering investigation into agents involved in the Patel family case revealed that an international human trafficking syndicate involving at least 260 Canadian universities was issuing student visas to “illegal immigrants” passing through the Canadian route. It turned out that To America.
Investigating Canadian university over-trading and how much money was made from ‘illegals’
Those who found the student visa route more convenient than the ‘donkey route’ paid an agency around 5 million to 6 million rupees each to arrange their student visas and cross to Canada before being ‘squeezed’ into the US. Ta. Investigations into the Canadian university’s dealings and how much money they made from such “illegal immigrants” are still ongoing.
“The investigation revealed that in order to illegally send Indian nationals to the United States, operatives arranged for them to enroll in Canadian universities and sent them on student visas. Once they arrived in Canada, they enrolled in universities. Instead, they illegally crossed the U.S.-Canada border,” the ED said.
Also read: ED investigates Canadian university for allegedly being involved in trafficking Indian nationals to US
On December 10 and 19, the ED conducted raids at eight premises in Mumbai, Nagpur, Gandhinagar and Vadodara of several operatives involved in funneling illegal immigrants through these Canadian universities.
“During the search, it was found that around 35,000 illegal immigrants are being sent abroad every year by just two agents based in Mumbai and Nagpur,” the ED said on Wednesday. The investigation also found that around 1,700 agents/partners from Gujarat and around 3,500 agents/partners across India were involved in the case. The ED estimates that over 800 agents are still active despite the crackdown by multiple government agencies.
The agency said its investigation revealed that at least two such agents, based in Mumbai and Nagpur, had entered into agreements with several overseas universities and colleges to admit students on commission basis. said. All potential illegal immigrants will have the necessary documentation for a student visa.
During the investigation, the ED seized Rs 1.9 million from the accused’s bank account besides seizing documents and digital devices. The money laundering case is based on an FIR registered by the Ahmedabad police against Bhavesh Patel, an agent involved in arranging travel for Jagdish Patel (a resident of Dhingcha village) and his family in 2022. are.
