About 300 Indians have been quarantined at a small airport in France’s Champagne region for several days as officials investigate whether the charter flight they were on was involved in human trafficking.
The group, including a family with children, was traveling to Nicaragua, with the youngest passenger aged 21 months. Some are unaccompanied minors, according to local public protection agencies.
French officials stopped the plane after receiving information, and two passengers were detained as part of a special investigation into suspected human trafficking by organized crime groups.
Prosecutors did not say what kind of trafficking was suspected or if the plane’s main destination was the US, where the number of Indians crossing the Mexico-US border this year has increased.
An unmarked A340 has been grounded at Vatry since Thursday. The 15 crew members of the Legend Airlines charter flight — en route from the United Arab Emirates to Managua, Nicaragua — were questioned and released.
Passengers were isolated on camp beds at the airport, which handles mainly small or charter flights.
The group was on their way to Nicaragua. AFP via Getty Images Prosecutors did not specify the type of trafficking suspected. AP A French soldier patrols the area near a chartered Legend Airlines plane that has been grounded at Vatry Airport since Thursday after officials received a tip that human trafficking could be involved. AP
Indian consular representatives are at the airport and are working with the French government “for the welfare of Indians” and for an “early resolution of the situation,” the Indian Embassy in France posted on Saturday at X.
Legend Airlines’ lawyer, Liliana Bakayoko denied any knowledge of the trafficking involved in the aircraft or its passengers. The customer who chartered the aircraft, which is not a European company, has chartered several Legend Airlines flights from Dubai to Nicaragua without incident.
The US government has designated Nicaragua as one of several countries deemed to have failed to meet minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking.
The number of Indian migrants through Mexico has increased from less than 3,000 in 2022 to more than 11,000 from January to November this year, according to Mexico’s Immigration Agency.
with Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
