ED cracks down on ‘donkey route’ human trafficking network n Haryana and Punjab: 30 passports seized, crores unearthed in hawala deals
Sweeping raids were conducted in Punjab’s Amritsar, Sangrur, Patiala, and Moga districts, along with Ambala, Kurukshetra, and Karnal in Haryana
PTC Web Desk: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has intensified its crackdown on a human trafficking network linked to the notorious ‘donkey route’ that facilitates illegal immigration to the United States. Two days after conducting raids across 11 locations in Punjab and Haryana, the ED on Friday confirmed the seizure of 30 original Indian passports and crucial evidence pointing to hawala transactions worth crores of rupees.
The sweeping raids were conducted in Punjab’s Amritsar, Sangrur, Patiala, and Moga districts, along with Ambala, Kurukshetra, and Karnal in Haryana. The ED continued its operation on Friday with further searches in seven additional locations in Punjab’s Mansa district and again in Kurukshetra and Karnal based on intelligence gathered during the earlier July 9 raids.
According to an official ED statement, the passports were recovered from the residence of a travel agent involved in sending Indian nationals abroad through illegal channels. “The agents collected huge amounts of money—between Rs 45 lakh and Rs 55 lakh per person—through cash and hawala transactions, duping people with false promises of legal migration routes,” the spokesperson said.
The investigation falls under the ambit of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), initiated on the basis of 19 FIRs registered against multiple travel agents and middlemen who operated across states. These operators allegedly ran large-scale rackets enabling illegal migration via the ‘donkey route’—a method that involves sneaking migrants through multiple international borders with the assistance of trafficking networks and organised crime syndicates.
Digital devices, bank documents, and several incriminating papers were seized during the raids. The ED highlighted that once the individuals were taken out of India, they were made to endure dangerous overland journeys across Central and South American countries before attempting to enter the US via the Mexico border. Throughout this perilous journey, traffickers—also known as donkers—often threatened and extorted additional money from the victims' families back home.
Significantly, this crackdown comes in the wake of a mass deportation earlier this year. In February, 131 young men from Punjab were forcibly repatriated to India by the US government after being caught attempting to illegally cross the US-Mexico border between January 23 and 28. These individuals were held in US detention centres before being sent back on US military aircraft during the Trump administration.
Statements from several of the deportees have now been recorded by the ED. Many revealed they had never physically met the agents but were linked via local contacts and paid large sums of money to unknown bank accounts. The agency has since requested full documentation and financial records to track the flow of funds and identify those behind the syndicate.
In a parallel investigation, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) recently arrested two men—Sunny from Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh and Shubham Sandhal of Rupnagar, currently residing in Peeragarhi, Delhi—for their roles in the same illegal network. Their arrests came following the interrogation of Gagandeep Singh, earlier apprehended in New Delhi.