Flight from Dubai grounded in Jamaica on suspicion of carrying illegal immigrants

“The local authorities were not satisfied with them being tourists. The flight and passengers were ordered to return to place of origin, Dubai. The passengers left Kingston on May 7,” he said.

A report in the Jamaica Observer said the flight had 253 foreigners and they were refused entry by immigration officials in view of security concerns. Jamaica’s Ministry of National Security stated that local authorities routinely screen passenger flights for security threats, and possible breaches of law and/or regulations, the media outlet reported.

According to an officer of the Gujarat Crime Investigation Department (CID), the flight, currently under investigation of central agencies, “had on board around 75 Gujarati passengers who were on a tourist visa”… several passengers from Punjab are also suspected to be on board”. It is suspected that these tourists were planning to illegally immigrate to the United States through the Mexico border.

Last December, a Nicaragua-bound plane carrying Indians, was grounded in France and later sent back to India over suspicion of human trafficking.

The Gujarat CID had booked 14 agents on the charge of human trafficking for trying to send over 60 people from the state to the US illegally. At least 66 people from the state were among the 303 on board the Legend Airways plane that flew from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates and was headed to Nicaragua, to eventually take them to the US via the Mexico border “illegally”, officials had said. The passengers returned to Mumbai on December 25, 2023.