India investigates suspected human traffickers after 276 citizens return home

The flight, operated by Romanian charter company Legend Airlines, departed from Dubai and was due to land at France's Vatry airport on Thursday to refuel. French authorities stopped the A340 on the runway and arrested two people after receiving a tip-off that passengers were "victims of human trafficking".

Investigation into suspected human trafficking in flight hijacking case in Criminal Court 1 — A passenger on a flight suspected of human trafficking. Photo: Reuters

Officials said many of the Indians on board were from Gujarat. Sanjay Kharat, a senior Gujarat police official, said authorities had obtained the names and addresses of 21 people from that state who were on the flight.

Indian immigration officials are also being questioned to see if any children left India unaccompanied, an Indian home ministry official said.

"All these people landed (in the UAE) at different times and they gathered to leave on the same plane. They had valid tourist visas to enter Dubai," the official told Reuters.

The plane was detained in France a day after the US State Department said it would impose visa restrictions on individuals operating charter flights into Nicaragua for migrants heading to the US-Mexico border.

According to data from the US Customs and Border Protection, the number of Indians caught trying to enter the US illegally has tripled in the past three years. US authorities caught 96,917 Indians between October 2022 and September 2023, up from 30,662 three years earlier.

Mai Anh (according to Reuters)

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