The Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at 11 locations across Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday in connection with the "Donkey Route" human trafficking case. The raids targeted locations in Amritsar, Sangrur, Patiala, Moga, Ambala, Kurukshetra, and Karnal, investigating money-laundering activities linked to illegal immigration.

Based on 17 FIRs filed in both states, the probe focuses on travel agents and middlemen who allegedly charged ₹45-50 lakh per person, falsely promising legal US travel. Instead, victims were sent through dangerous illegal routes via multiple countries under trafficking networks.

Earlier this month, the NIA arrested two suspected traffickers, including associates of Gagandeep Singh, who was previously charged for sending over 100 victims illegally to the US through Spain, El-Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico before their February deportation.