New Delhi [India], July 11 (ANI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday carried out searches at seven locations in Haryana in connection with the 'Donkey Route case' related to the illegal immigrants deported from USA in February, 2025.

https://x.com/dir_ed/status/1943549928472744421

The searches, being carried out by Jalandhar Zonal Office, are underway at Haryana's Mansa, Kurukshetra and Karnal.

Officials said that the searches are based on credible inputs gathered in previous search operation conducted on July 9 at 11 locations, including Amritsar, Sangrur, Patiala, Moga, Ambala, Kurukshetra, and Karnal targeting travel and visa agents allegedly involved in the illegal immigration network.

'Inputs gathered shows that second leg persons and human traffickers were used to arrange illegal route resources outside India in connivance with donkers(human trafficking conduits),' officials said.

The Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) investigation was initiated based on 17 First Information Reports (FIRs) registered by the state police authorities in Punjab and Haryana against travel agents and middlemen accused of cheating individuals desperate to migrate to the US.

'These agents reportedly lured people with promises of legal travel arrangements but instead trafficked them through dangerous, illegal routes known as the Donkey Route--a term used for unauthorized, multi-country land crossings often fraught with peril,' said the officials in the ED, privy to the development.

According to ED findings, agents charged exorbitant sums-- Rs 45 to Rs 50 lakh per person--under the pretense of legal migration.

However, the agency officials said, victims were often smuggled across international borders through jungles and treacherous terrain with the involvement of organized crime networks and so-called 'Donkers' (trafficking facilitators).

Investigators further revealed that once the victims were in transit, the agents and their associates coerced families back home to make additional payments by creating a sense of fear and threat to their loved ones' safety,' said the officials.

Statements from several deportees have been recorded by the ED, leading to the identification of multiple suspects whose premises are currently being searched as part of the ongoing crackdown.

The case highlights a growing concern over transnational human trafficking networks operating under the guise of legitimate immigration services. (ANI)