'Donkey Route' case: ED targets visa agents in Punjab, Haryana over illegal US migration

US visa

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided 11 locations across Punjab and Haryana on July 8 in a money laundering investigation linked to the infamous 'Donkey Route' case, involving illegal immigration to the US and subsequent deportations earlier this year.

Searches were conducted in Amritsar, Sangrur, Patiala, Moga, Ambala, Kurukshetra and Karnal, targeting travel agents and middlemen accused of cheating desperate migrants by promising legal passage to America, only to funnel them through perilous illegal routes. The operation follows 17 FIRs registered by Punjab and Haryana police, as reported by The Hindu.

Agents allegedly charged aspirants a staggering Rs 40-50 lakh per person, falsely guaranteeing US visas and safe air travel. Instead, victims were forced through treacherous cross-border journeys - often via Spain, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico - under the control of human traffickers ("donkers") and organised mafia networks.

The ED stated that the agents, in collusion with donkers and the mafia, used to create such a threatening situation for the persons and their families that they were forced to pay more, according to a Live Mint report. Some deportees, sent back to India in February aboard US military planes, provided statements that helped identify suspects.

As per The Hindu, this latest action comes weeks after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested two alleged traffickers - Sunny (aka "Sunny Donker") from Himachal Pradesh and Shubham Sandhal (aka "Deep Hundi") from Punjab residing in Delhi - linked to kingpin Gagandeep Singh. Singh, arrested in March, had allegedly smuggled over 100 Indians to the US via the same route, extracting Rs 45 lakh per victim.

The ED’s probe focuses on the money trail, examining how agents laundered crores earned through the racket. With deportees’ testimonies revealing deeper networks, further arrests are anticipated.