NEW DELHI -- A Romanian charter flight recently grounded in France on suspicion that some of the 303 passengers, mostly Indians, were being smuggled has blown a lid off an illegal migration racket many say is flourishing in the South Asian country.
The plane was headed from the United Arab Emirates to Nicaragua, regarded as a common transit point used by handlers sending undocumented migrants to the U.S. via Mexico. Acting on a tip, French authorities moved in when the plane stopped to refuel near Paris on Dec. 21 and ultimately rerouted the jet, with slightly fewer passengers, to Mumbai, where it landed on Tuesday. India's Embassy in France thanked the authorities there for their "quick resolution of the situation enabling Indian passengers to return home."
