India probes Canadian colleges for alleged role in human trafficking

The country’s law enforcement has uncovered a network luring Indians into illegally crossing the Canada-US border

New Delhi has launched an investigation into the alleged involvement of Canadian colleges and Indian entities in a money laundering case linked to human trafficking across the Canada-US border. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), the country’s primary law enforcement and economic intelligence agency, stated on Tuesday that it had uncovered a human trafficking network facilitating the illegal entry of Indians into the US via Canada.

The investigation stems from a 2022 incident when a four-member family from the village of Dingucha in Gujarat state died from exposure while attempting to cross the US-Canadian border. According to the ED’s statement, cases have been filed against Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel, the primary accused, and several others.

The agency has registered a complaint under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED alleges that Patel and his accomplices orchestrated a “well-planned conspiracy.”

The investigation revealed that the accused secured admissions for individuals at Canadian colleges and universities under the guise of providing 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.

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The ED also disclosed that tuition fees paid to Canadian institutions were often refunded to the individuals’ accounts, raising suspicions of collusion. Victims reportedly paid between 5.5 to 6 million rupees ($64,000 to $70,000) each for illicit services. The ED conducted additional searches on December 10 and 19 across eight locations in India, including Mumbai, Nagpur, Gandhinagar, and Vadodara.

Preliminary findings 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, with 25,000 attributed to one entity and 10,000 to the other. Furthermore, the ED uncovered a network of approximately 1,700 agents in the state of Gujarat and 3,500 across the rest of India, with around 800 reportedly active. Agreements have been identified between these entities and over 100 Canadian colleges in one case and more than 150 colleges in another. Some institutions, particularly those near the Canada-US border, are suspected by the agency of being complicit in human trafficking.

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India remains the largest source of international students in Canada, with 427,000 Indian students enrolled in Canadian institutions as of August 2024, Business Standard reported earlier this week. The outlet noted that in November the Canadian immigration department (IRCC) revealed that over 10,000 fake student acceptance letters were discovered in 2024 after reviewing 500,000 documents. Reports indicate that 80% of these fake documents were linked to students from Gujarat and Punjab.