The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday carried out searches at 13 business and residential locations across Punjab, Haryana and Delhi in connection with the Dunki route case, officials stated.
The raids began in the morning and were conducted in close coordination with local police. Officials said the searches targeted premises linked to “second- and third-layer persons” involved in the syndicate.
Teams from the ED’s Jalandhar zonal office carried out the searches at the 13 locations based on specific inputs. The agency had launched its probe following multiple FIRs linked to the deportation of 330 Indians from the US on a military cargo plane in February 2025.
During the probe, the ED found that the deported individuals had been sent to the US through the donkey or dunki route. The process involved a complex network of travel agents, middlemen, donkers, overseas contacts, hawala operators and those arranging lodging and logistics.
Officials said that evidence gathered during two earlier ED searches revealed the names of second- and third-layer operatives involved in the network.
Recently, the ED attached assets worth Rs 5.41 crore linked to individuals accused of generating proceeds of crime by illegally sending people abroad through the dunki route. The Jalandhar zonal office attached properties either derived from or equivalent to the proceeds of crime.
The attached assets include agricultural land, residential and commercial properties, and bank accounts held in the names of the accused agents and their family members.
The ED began its investigation based on FIRs registered by the Punjab and Haryana police under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and the Immigration Act, 1983. These cases relate to the deportation of 330 Indian nationals who entered the US illegally.
The probe revealed that agents and their associates cheated people by promising legal entry into the US and charging large sums of money. "However, subsequently they used to send people via dangerous routes through various South American countries, and they were made to cross over into the USA illegally through the USA-Mexico border," said the agency
"Throughout the way, people were tortured, extorted for even more money and made to commit illegal acts. These 'agents' and their associates generated proceeds of crime by cheating various persons on false pretexts and obtaining large sums from them,” the agency said.
Earlier, the ED carried out searches in the case on July 9 and July 11, 2025, at 19 locations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. During those raids, officials recovered incriminating documents, bogus immigration and visa stamps, records and digital devices.
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