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US unearths 'largest human smuggling ring'

C K Arora in Washington

The United States has claimed the demolition of the 'largest and most sophisticated' human smuggling ring in the American history in which some 7,200 Indian citizens have been illegally brought to the US in return for hefty sums of money during the past three years.

The Immigration and Naturalisation Service, a US government agency which carried out the year-long investigation known as 'Operation Seek and Keep' said last night 22 people were taken into custody in a series of raids in several states of the US and in the adjoining countries -- the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and Ecuador.

Authorities said the investigation is continuing and additional arrests are likely. Two of the three ringleaders have been arrested, and a third smuggling chieftain remains at large, officials said. All three are from India.

Those arrested included Nitin Shettie, Abdul Farooque, Gunvantla Shah, Shermik Kumar Shah, Bhupendra Patel, Paresh Patel, Navin Patel, Mohammad Farooq, George Kessel, Inayat Vohra, Jay Patel, Mukesh Solanki, Hiren Jashwant Bhai Patel, Mahendra Patel, Nizar, Abdul Sampson and Navtej Pall Singh Sandu.

After beginning its arrests last week, the INS discovered that some of the aliens were being housed in transit countries. Through information provided by INS, Bahamian officials found 31 Indian nationals, and Ecuadorian officials found 30 being held at a smuggler's residence.

The US government is working to give Cuba information about smugglers and 37 Indians held in transit there.

The smugglers provided 'undocumented workers' to 'unscrupulous employers' who wanted cheap labour. Such employers are still being identified and apprehended, said an INS media statement issued yesterday.

For the last three years, it revealed, these ''flesh cartels'' smuggled as many as 300 Indian nationals per month, at a cost of more than $ 20,000 per alien. Thus, about 7200 illegal aliens have been brought to the US in the last three years. The gross take off for the organisation would be nearly $ 220 million, it adds.

UNI

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