Canada colleges 260 involved in trafficking.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) of India has uncovered an extensive human trafficking network involving at least 260 Canadian colleges. These institutions are alleged to have issued student visas to individuals who, instead of pursuing education, used this route to illegally enter the United States via Canada colleges.
Background of the Investigation
The investigation gained (Canada colleges) momentum following the tragic deaths of the Patel family from Gujarat, India, in January 2022. The family froze to death while attempting to cross the US-Canada border illegally. This incident led the ED to probe deeper into the mechanisms facilitating such dangerous migrations.
Modus Operandi of the Trafficking Network
The trafficking syndicate operated by arranging Canada colleges admissions for Indian nationals into Canadian colleges and universities. These individuals were granted student visas but, upon arrival in Canada colleges, did not attend the institutions. Instead, they were guided to illegally cross into the United States. Individuals opting for this method reportedly paid agents between ₹50-60 lakh (approximately $60,000 to $72,000) to facilitate their migration.
Scale of the Operation
The ED’s investigation revealed that two agents, based in Mumbai and Nagpur, were responsible for sending approximately 35,000 individuals abroad annually through this scheme. Further findings indicate the involvement of around 1,700 agents in Gujarat and about 3,500 across India, with over 800 agents still active despite ongoing crackdowns.
Involvement of Canadian Colleges
The ED is scrutinizing the financial transactions of these Canada colleges to determine the extent of their involvement and the profits garnered from facilitating illegal migrations. Some of these institutions, particularly those near the Canada-US border, are suspected of being complicit in human trafficking.
Legal Actions and Seizures
In December 2024, the ED conducted searches at eight premises across Mumbai, Nagpur, Gandhinagar, and Vadodara, leading to the seizure of ₹19 lakh in bank accounts, documents, digital devices, and two vehicles. The money laundering case is based on an FIR registered by Ahmedabad police against Bhavesh Patel, an agent involved in arranging the travel of the Patel family in 2022.
Implications and Ongoing Investigations
This revelation underscores the complexities of international human trafficking networks and the exploitation of educational visas for illegal migration. The ED continues to investigate the financial dealings of the implicated Canadian colleges and the network of agents involved, aiming to dismantle the syndicate and prevent further exploitation.
Three years after a Gujarati family froze to death attempting to illegally cross the US-Canada border, an ED probe uncovers an international human trafficking syndicate involving Canadian colleges issuing student visas. Around 35,000 illegal migrants are sent abroad yearly by two agents in Mumbai and Nagpur.
NEW DELHI: Three years ago, on January 19, 2022, a Gujarati family – 39-year-old Jagdish Patel, wife Vaishali (35), daughter (11) and son (3) in Manitoba while trying to illegally cross over to the US. The traffickers had left the family in the middle of a snowstorm at -37 degrees Celsius.
Three years later, a money laundering probe by the ED against the agents involved in the Patel family case has found an international syndicate of human traffickers that includes at least 260 colleges in Canada colleges that issued student visas to “illegal migrants” to take the Canadian route to the US.
Those who found the student visa route more convenient, compared to the ‘donkey route’, paid around Rs 50-60 lakh each to the agents to arrange their student visa and travel to Canada colleges before being “pushed” into the US. The probe is still under progress on the transactions of the Canadian colleges and how much money they made from such “illegal migrants”.
“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. Once in Canada colleges, instead of joining the college, they illegally crossed the US-Canada border,” ED said.
On December 10 and 19, ED carried out searches at eight premises across Mumbai, Nagpur, Gandhinagar and Vadodara on several agents who were involved in sending illegal migrants through these Canadian colleges.
“During searches, it was found that around 35,000 illegal migrants are sent abroad every year by just two agents, based in Mumbai and Nagpur,” ED said on Wednesday. The probe also found that around 1,700 agents/partners in Gujarat and around 3,500 across India were involved in this racket. ED estimates that more than 800 agents are still active despite a multi-agency crackdown on them.
The agency said its probe found that at least two such agents based in Mumbai and Nagpur have signed agreements with several universities and colleges abroad for admission of students on commission basis. All potential illegal migrants are then prepared with required documentation for a student visa.
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