The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Delhi-based travel agent Tarun Khosla over suspected money laundering tied to an illegal “donkey route” operation to bring Indians into the US. Khosla was brought from New Delhi on transit remand and produced in a special PMLA court in Jalandhar on Saturday, with ED remand granted for seven days until October 30. The ED’s investigation follows more than a year of probing and centres on 19 FIRs registered by the Punjab and Haryana Police after the US deported 330 Indian nationals in February 2025 on military cargo planes. The deportees were found living illegally in the US. Investigators recorded statements of the deportees, which allegedly helped identify suspects in the racket. Each deportee allegedly paid between ₹40 lakh and ₹55 lakh to travel agents they had never met in person, after making contact through local intermediaries. ED investigators said the deportees were sent to the US illegally through a complex network that included travel agents, middlemen, “donkers”, overseas associates, hawala operators, and people who provided lodging and other logistics. The “donkey route” refers to the long and often hazardous journey used to enter another country illegally, including routing through South American countries before entering the US via the US-Mexico border. During raids in December last year, the ED seized ₹4.62 crore cash, 6kg of gold bullion and 313kg of silver from Khosla’s business and residential premises in addition to other locations in Punjab, Haryana and New Delhi. Documents relating to migrants kept as surety for payments were also found at the premises of Balwan Singh, a Panipat-based travel agent. On December 15, the ED provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth ₹5.41 crore, described as proceeds of crime, linked to agents Shubham Sharma, Jagjit Singh and Surmukh Singh. The attached assets included agricultural land, residential and business premises, and bank accounts in their names and those of family members. The latest status is that Khosla is in ED custody following the court appearance in Jalandhar, with the remand period set to run until October 30 while the investigation continues.