Chandigarh: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) teams on Wednesday conducted searches in as many as 11 cities of Punjab and Haryana as a part of a money-laundering investigation in the ``donkey route’’ case related to illegal immigrants deported by the US earlier this year.
According to information, the searches were conducted at the offices and houses of suspected agents in various cities including Amritsar, Moga, Sangrur and Patiala in Punjab and Ambala, Kurukshetra and Karnal cities of Haryana.
The said money-laundering case stems from 19 FIRs registered by Punjab and Haryana police departments against the travel agents who allegedly cheated citizens willing to go to the US illegally.
It may be recalled that as many as 131 youngsters from Punjab were deported from US through military planes by the Donald Trump administration; they were reported to have attempted to enter the US through the Mexico/ border illegally between January 23 and 28 but were caught by US border security forces and sent to detention centres. Names of several suspects surfaced during the subsequent investigation into the case.
According to information, each deportee had paid between Rs 45 to Rs 55 lakh to travel agents – whom they had not met in person but were connected through local contacts. Many of them were also extorted during the journey.
The ED, which had initiated its probe on the basis of bank accounts of the travel agents to whom the payments were made, suspected a huge sum of illegal financial transactions involving a major nexus. The nexus also involved ones who helped in forging fake education, experience and other documents to make ineligible visa applicants appear eligible for visas.
It also came to light that the nexus involved visa consultants who exploited aspiring students and workers eager to move to the US.
According to media reports, the ED had also conducted searches on February 25 last at the business premises and houses in Ludhiana and Chandigarh.
