International travel racket busted; 4 arrested from Delhi

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[google-translator]

Four men who were involved in illegally sending Indians to live in foreign counties, including the United States, have been arrested from west Delhi neighbourhoods, the Delhi Police’s crime branch announced on Sunday.

The arrests and seizures were made from the beginning of this month till late last week, after the crime branch began focusing on such syndicates due to the “rapid surge” in such frauds. (Representational image)
The arrests and seizures were made from the beginning of this month till late last week, after the crime branch began focusing on such syndicates due to the “rapid surge” in such frauds. (Representational image)

Officers aware of the case said the men ran the racket in the guise of a tour and travel company operating out of west Delhi’s Tilak Nagar. Police identified the arrested men as Girish Bhandari, Himanshu Mehta, Gagan Sharma and Ramesh Arya.

“Bhandari is the mastermind of this syndicate, and he began it some 12 years ago by opening a tour and travel business so that the police’s attention wouldn’t be drawn,” Ravindra Singh Yadav, special commissioner (crime branch), said.

Yadav said the syndicate had agents in Delhi, where all embassies are located, sub-agents in other parts of the National Capital Region (NCR), and had associates in countries such as El Salvador and Mexico. “Seizures from them include 80 passports of various countries, and a host of stamps of various companies and forged documents of all kinds used in the racket,” said the officer.

The arrests and seizures were made from the beginning of this month till late last week, after the crime branch began focusing on such syndicates due to the “rapid surge” in such frauds.

Yadav said the syndicate primarily used two routes to send Indians to the US —Baku-Istanbul-El Salvador, and Europe-Mexico.

According to police, Bhandari and his men allegedly used high-end computer applications and editing software to prepare forged documents such as bank statements and income tax returns. “The members of this syndicate used encrypted apps for communication,” Yadav said.

The police are trying to identify people who have made it to foreign countries through the help of this syndicate.

In the first route, the syndicate would send four-five people in a single batch, the police said. “The racketeers would book flight tickets from Delhi or Jaipur to Baku in Azerbaijan, via Sharjah in UAE. Since the visa of Baku can be obtained in just 30 minutes and is valid for 30 days, the passenger would stay in Baku for seven to 10 days until further tickets were available,” said Yadav.

However, Azerbaijan’s visa requirements stipulate that a return journey is booked in advance. Hence, Yadav said, the return ticket would be booked through Turkish Airlines. “The Turkish Airlines route from Baku to Delhi is via Istanbul. At Istanbul, the passenger is told to deliberately miss the connecting flight to Delhi,” Yadav said.

Fresh tickets from Istanbul to El Salvador were then arranged for the passenger. “This fresh Turkish Airlines flight goes to Panama City from where they take a new flight to El Salvador,” the officer said.

In El Salvador, the passenger would stay for two-three days until they were allegedly contacted by people named Max and Gary Max — the syndicates’ agents there. “Max and Gary Max arrange taxis for the passengers to reach Mexico border at Tapachula,” said Yadav.

From Tapachula, the Indians would allegedly be taken to one of two main border points with the US —Tijuana or Mexicali — where their illegal entry into the US would be facilitated by the agents, Yadav said.

Giving details of the second route used by the syndicate, Yadav said the passengers would get a Schengen visa that is valid in 27 European countries. “When the passenger lands in a Schengen country, they usually wait there for three-four days. Some end up extending their stay in certain European countries such as Portugal, which allow prolonged stays by paying extra taxes,” said Yadav.

Others bound for the US depart from the Schengen country to Mexico City, where Mexico facilitates tourist visas on arrival, said Yadav. “From there, the passengers are taken to the two border points with the US, where agents facilitate their entry,” the officer said.

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