A Gujarati family, consisting of 39-Year-Old Jagdish Patel, his wife Vaishali (35), daughter (11) and son (3), froze to death on the US-Canada border in Manitoba three years ago on January 19, 2022, while attempting to enter the US illegally. The family had been abandoned by the traffickers during a snowfall with temperatures as low as -37 degrees Celsius.
At least 260 Canadian colleges were part of an international network of people traffickers that granted student visas to “illegal migrants” so they could travel through Canada to reach the United States, according to the ED’s money laundering investigation three years later against the agents engaged in the Patel family case.
In order to obtain their student visa and travel to Canada before being “pushed” into the US, those who thought the student visa path was more convenient than the “donkey route” paid the agents between Rs 50 and Rs 60 lakh each. The investigation into the Canadian universities’ dealings and the amount of money they earned from these “illegal migrants” is still ongoing.
“Investigations show that the agents arranged for Indians to be admitted to Canadian colleges and universities and sent them on student visas in order to send them to the US illegally. Once in Canada, they crossed the US-Canada border illegally rather than enrolling in the college,” the ED added.
Several agents involved in transferring illegal migrants through these Canadian colleges were searched by the ED between December 10 and 19 at eight locations in Mumbai, Nagpur, Gandhinagar, and Vadodara.
“During searches, it was found that around 35,000 illegal migrants are sent abroad every year by just two agents, based in Mumbai and Nagpur,” the Enforcement Directorate stated on Wednesday.
According to the agency’s investigation, at least two of these brokers, who are situated in Nagpur and Mumbai, have contracts with a number of foreign colleges and universities for the commission-based admission of students.
After that, all possible illegal immigrants are ready with the necessary paperwork for a student visa. An FIR filed by Ahmedabad police against accused Bhavesh Patel, an agent who helped arrange the 2022 trip of Jagdish Patel of Dingucha village and his family, is the basis for the money laundering case.
