VATRY: A Nicaragua-bound plane carrying more than 300 Indian passengers has been grounded in France over suspected “human trafficking”, authorities said on Friday.

The plane had taken off from the United Arab Emirates and was detained after an anonymous tipoff.

The aircraft carrying passengers “likely to be victims of human trafficking” was detained on Thursday, the Paris public prosecutor’s office said.

The national anti-organised crime unit JUNALCO has taken over the investigation, prosecutors said.

The prefecture in the north-eastern department of Marne said

Passengers wanted to travel to Central America in order to attempt entry into US

the A340, operated by Romanian company Legend Airlines, “remained grounded on the tarmac at Vatry airport following its landing” on Thursday.

Legend Air has a small fleet of four aircraft, according to the Flightradar website.

The plane had been due to refuel and was carrying 303 Indian nationals who had probably been working in the UAE, it said.

According to a source familiar with the case, the passengers might have planned to travel to Central America in order to attempt illegal entry into the United States or Canada.

After landing in France, they were first kept on the aircraft, but then let out and given individual beds in the terminal building.

The entire airport was cordoned off by police.

The Vatry airport, located 150 kilometres (90 miles) east of Paris, serves mostly budget airlines. Human trafficking carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in France.A judicial investigation into the conditions and purposes of the trip has been launched, local officials in the eastern Marne region said on Friday.

A unit specialising in organised crime is investigating suspicions of human trafficking and arrested two people for questioning, the Paris public prosecution office said, adding that authorities had been tipped off by an anonymous informant.

The flight, carried out by Romanian charter company Legend Airlines, had departed from Dubai and landed at the small Vatry airport on Thursday afternoon for a technical stopover when police intervened, the Marne prefect’s office said in a statement.

The airline did not respond to messages and phone calls.

“The reception hall at Vatry airport was transformed into a waiting area with individual beds to provide passengers with the best possible reception conditions,” the prefect’s office said.

The Indian foreign ministry did not immediately reply to request for comment.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2023