Mumbai Crime: Child-trafficking racket busted at International airport

A 52-year-old man was arrested by the Immigration officials at the Chatrapati Shivaji International airport on Tuesday for trafficking minor boys and girls to various countries.

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What's more, Immigration officials believe this may be only the tip of the iceberg - an international racket that is spread across countries like United Kingdom, France, Switzerland and Germany as per reports by Hindustan Times.

As per a police officer at Sahar Police station, the accused and his 41-year-old wife have trafficked at least 17 minor boys and girls to various countries since 2015. The accused has been arrested and has been remanded to custody till October 30, while his wife is still at large. As per the Sahar police, the accused and his wife are only two people out of a gang that could include at least five more people.

Also read: Mumbai Police arrests Jogeshwari couple for smuggling kids to the US

The accused and his wife resided in Borivali east. The duo came under the Immigration official's scanner after they found that the wofe's passport had been used by four other women to go abroad. They added that the lady herself also used the same passport to travel to other countries.

Also read: Minor boy plots his kidnapping to extort money from father to help poor girlfriend

The police also found that the criminal's wife and another lady had taken several trips between 2015 and 2016, and had a minor boy or girl with them on each of these trips. As per reports the other woman and trafficked children have not returned to Mumbai as yet. They added that on several trips the husband-wife duo would pass the trafficked children as their own and even got passports made for them. So far the accused have made trips to countries like United Kingdom, France, Switzerland and Germany.