Nagpur: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has unearthed a significant human trafficking racket involving Canadian colleges and Indian entities, including a firm based in Nagpur. The investigation focuses on money laundering linked to smuggling Indian nationals into the United States through Canada, with fresh searches conducted in Nagpur, Mumbai, Gandhinagar, and Vadodara on December 10 and 19.

The case, initiated after the tragic deaths of a four-member family from Dingucha village, Gujarat, near the Canada-US border in January 2022, has revealed a sprawling network. The ED’s probe found that several Indian entities, including one operating from Nagpur, facilitated student admissions to Canadian colleges as part of this racket. However, instead of attending the colleges, the individuals crossed the US-Canada border illegally.

The accused charged between ₹55 and ₹60 lakh per person, luring vulnerable Indians into the scheme with false promises of a better life in the US. The agency alleged that fees paid to the colleges were later refunded to the individuals’ accounts as part of the conspiracy.

According to the ED, two entities—one based in Nagpur and the other in Mumbai—played a significant role in recruiting students for Canadian colleges on a commission basis. Together, they referred more than 35,000 students annually to foreign institutions, including over 112 colleges in Canada.

The ED suspects that a few Canadian colleges near the US border were complicit in facilitating illegal crossings. Agents and partners, numbering in the thousands, are believed to have participated in the operation, with 800 of them currently active.

This cross-border trafficking scheme highlights the growing nexus between foreign educational institutions and Indian intermediaries, with Nagpur emerging as a critical node in the investigation. The ED’s probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) continues to uncover further details of this international human trafficking network.