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Published December 23, 2023, 5:41 PM ET
About 300 Indian citizens have been held for days at a small airport in France's Champagne region as officials investigate whether the chartered flight they were on was involved in human trafficking.
The group, which also included families with children, was on its way to Nicaragua; the youngest passenger was just 21 months old. According to the local civil protection authority, several were unaccompanied minors.
French officials abandoned the plane after receiving a tip-off and two passengers were arrested as part of a special investigation on suspicion of human trafficking by an organized criminal group.
Prosecutors did not say what type of trafficking was involved or whether the plane's ultimate destination was the United States, where the number of Indians crossing the Mexico-U.S. border has surged this year.
The unmarked A340 aircraft has been grounded in 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 accommodated on cots at the airport, which mainly handles small or charter flights.
The group was on its way to Nicaragua. AFP via Getty Images Prosecutors did not specify what type of human trafficking was involved. AP A French gendarme is patrolling near a plane chartered by Legend Airlines that has been grounded at Vatry airport since Thursday after officials received a tip that it could be human trafficking. AP
Indian consular representatives are at the airport and are working with the French government “for the well-being of Indians” and for a “quick resolution of the situation,” the Indian embassy in France published on X on Saturday.
Legend Airlines lawyer Liliana Bakayoko denied any knowledge of human trafficking involving the plane or its passengers. The customer who chartered the aircraft, who is not a European company, chartered several Legend Airlines flights from Dubai to Nicaragua without incident.
The U.S. government has classified Nicaragua as one of several countries that do not meet minimum standards to combat human trafficking.
According to Mexican immigration officials, the number of Indian migrants through Mexico rose from fewer than 3,000 in 2022 to over 11,000 from January to November this year.
with post wires
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