The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating certain Canadian colleges and Indian entities for their alleged involvement in a human trafficking and money laundering scheme.
This probe follows the tragic deaths of a four-member Indian family from Dingucha village, Gujarat, who succumbed to extreme cold on January 19, 2022, while attempting to illegally cross the Canada-United States of America border.
The ED's investigation, initiated from a First Investigation Report (FIR) by Ahmedabad Police against primary accused Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel and others, has uncovered a "well-planned conspiracy" facilitating the illegal entry of Indian nationals into the United States via Canada, the Times of India reports.
The scheme involved securing fake admissions for individuals in Canadian colleges and universities under the guise of higher education. Once these individuals obtained Canadian student visas and entered the country, they bypassed their supposed academic commitments to cross the US-Canada border illegally.
Tuition fees paid to these Canadian institutions were often refunded to the individuals’ accounts, raising suspicions of collusion, the ED’s investigation has revealed. Indian nationals were reportedly charged between Rs 55 lakh and Rs 60 lakh each for these illegal services.
Recent searches conducted by the ED across eight locations, including Mumbai, Nagpur, Gandhinagar, and Vadodara, have implicated two entities — one based in Mumbai and the other in Nagpur — in facilitating admissions to foreign universities on a commission basis.
Together, these entities are said to refer over 35,000 Indian students annually to colleges abroad. The ED uncovered a network of approximately 1,700 agents in Gujarat and 3,500 across the rest of India, with around 800 reportedly active.
Agreements have been identified between these entities and numerous Canadian colleges, some of which, particularly those near the Canada-US border, are suspected of being complicit in human trafficking.
The ED is currently probing into the role played by Canadian colleges identified in the investigation, as well as their proximity to the Canada-US border, which may have played a role in enabling their trafficking activities.