The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has strengthened its operation against the notorious 'Dunki Route' illegal immigration racket, with raids at 11 places in Punjab and Haryana. The operation, which started on Wednesday and continued on Thursday, was against agents and middlemen who are associated with the high-profile Indians deported from the United States this year.
Raids and recoveries
- The ED's Jalandhar Zonal Office conducted simultaneous raids in Amritsar Sangrur, Patiala, Moga (Punjab), and Ambala, Kurukshetra, and Karnal (Haryana).
- Officials, in the course of raids, seized 30 passports from the house of agents suspected of helping in illegal migration through the 'Dunki Route.'
- Some digital equipment, objectionable papers, and records were confiscated, exposing money transactions of crores being channelled through cash and hawala routes.
Background: The 'Dunki Route' racket
- The 'Dunki Route' is a secret and dangerous network utilized to bring Indian nationals to the US and other Western nations by means of illegal border points across several countries.
- The racket attracted intense public scrutiny following the deportation by US officials of hundreds of Indians in February 2025, with most of them landing handcuffed in India—an incident that invited national outrage.
- Investigations indicate agents demanded Rs 45–55 lakh per individual, enticing desperate ones for legal foreign placements but actually indulging them in perilous voyages handled by global human smuggling mafias.
Hawala network and money laundering
- ED's investigation, conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), follows on the basis of several FIRs filed by Punjab and Haryana Police.
- Indicators point towards an elaborate hawala system utilized for money laundering of the criminal proceeds, with further payments extorted from migrants' families along the way under coercion and intimidation.
Broader network and continuing probe
- The search operation has unraveled the involvement of a number of additional agents and immigration agencies operating illegitimate operations on a large scale.
- Quotes from deported migrants have assisted ED in naming new suspects and learning how the network works.
- The agency has reported that some of the key actors in the business of human trafficking have been named, and additional revelations are anticipated as the probe unfolds.
Impact and official reaction
The ED's action is a major step towards dismantling an extensive organization that smuggles vulnerable youth from Punjab and Haryana's interiors with promises of a better life overseas but subjects them to trauma, risk, and exploitation.