Authorities in France have grounded a Nicaragua-bound plane carrying 303 Indian passengers from the United Arab Emirates, over suspected “human trafficking”.
The plane carrying passengers “likely to be victims of human trafficking” was detained Thursday.
The aircraft was detained after an anonymous tip off and the national anti-organised crime unit JUNALCO has taken over the investigation, the prosecuting attorney said.
The A340, operated by Romanian company Legend Airlines, “remained grounded on the tarmac at Vatry airport following its landing” on Thursday.
According to the Flightradar website, the airline has a small fleet of four aircraft.
The plane lifting 303 Indian nationals who had probably been working in the UAE, was due to refuel. After landing in France, they were first kept on the aircraft, but later offered individual beds in the terminal building.
A source claimed that the passengers might have planned to travel to Central America in order to attempt illegal entry into the United States or Canada.
Thereafter, the entire airport was cordoned off by airport security. The Vatry airport, located 150 kilometres east of Paris, serves mostly budget airlines. In France, human trafficking carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years
