Thu Feb 20 18:24:38 UTC 2025: ## Mass Deportation Exposes Global Human Trafficking Network

**New Delhi, February 21, 2025** – The large-scale deportation of Indian nationals from the United States has brought a massive human trafficking network into sharp focus. Hundreds of Indians, primarily from Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and other states, have been returned, revealing a complex operation spanning multiple countries and involving significant financial transactions.

Victims reportedly paid up to ₹50 lakh (approximately $60,000 USD) to facilitators promising legal entry into the US. The journey often involved transit through the UAE, Egypt, Spain, and numerous Central and South American countries, indicating a sophisticated and well-organized criminal enterprise. Canada also served as a transit point for some victims.

State police forces, including Punjab (15 cases) and Haryana (13 cases), are investigating, but experts urge the involvement of central agencies like the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and Enforcement Directorate (ED) due to the international nature of the crime. The NIA, in particular, possesses the international ties and expertise to effectively investigate such transnational crimes.

Former Director-General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development, Navneet Rajan Wasan, emphasized the need for a thorough investigation, stating that the victims were largely duped by agents posing as visa facilitators. He suggested the Ministry of Home Affairs entrust the investigation to the NIA, given its 2019 amendments empowering it to investigate human trafficking offenses and its existing Anti-Human Trafficking Division.

Central agencies are already involved in related investigations. The NIA is probing a separate case involving trafficking to Laos and Cambodia for forced labor in cyberfraud call centers, while the CBI is investigating the trafficking of Indians to Russia for combat roles in the Ukraine war. The ED is focusing on the money laundering aspect, having recently uncovered a network using education visas as a cover to smuggle individuals to Canada and then the US, charging ₹60 lakh per person, and another syndicate using fake documents and “hawala” (underground money transfer) channels, charging ₹75 lakh per person.

The scale of the deportations and the complexity of the trafficking network highlight the urgent need for coordinated national and international efforts to dismantle these criminal operations and bring those responsible to justice.

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