Uber Smuggling: How an Indian-Origin Man Trafficked Hundreds of Indians into the US

 

In a shocking case of human trafficking, a 49-year-old Indian-origin man was sentenced to over three years in jail for smuggling more than 800 Indian citizens into the US using the ride-hailing app Uber. Rajinder Pal Singh, aka Jaspal Gill, pleaded guilty in February, admitting that he took in more than $500,000 as a key member of a smuggling ring, bringing in hundreds of Indian nationals across the border from Canada.

According to the Department of Justice, Singh and his co-conspirators used Uber to transport people who had illegally crossed the border from Canada to the Seattle area, from mid-2018 to May 2022. Singh arranged over 600 trips involving the transportation of Indian nationals illegally smuggled into the US. According to investigation estimates, between July 2018 and April 2022, the 17 Uber accounts tied to the smuggling ring ran up more than $80,000 in charges.

Singh’s co-conspirators would use one-way vehicle rentals to transport those smuggled to their ultimate destinations outside Washington state in trips that usually began near the border in the early hours and were split between different rides. The members of the smuggling ring also used sophisticated means to launder the illicit proceeds. In the plea agreement, Singh admitted that the purpose of the complex money movement was to obscure the illegal nature of the funds. Investigators also found about $45,000 in cash and counterfeit identity documents from one of Singh’s homes in California.

Singh’s conduct was not just a security risk for Washington but also subjected those smuggled to security and safety perils during the often week-long smuggling route from India to the US. "Mr. Singh’s participation in this conspiracy preyed upon the Indian nationals’ hopes for a better life in the US while saddling those smuggled with a crushing debt of as much as $70,000," said Acting US Attorney Tessa M.Gorman.

Singh, who is not legally present in the US, will probably be deported following his prison term. This case is a stark reminder of the dangers and exploitation that migrants face when they resort to illegal means to enter another country. It also exposes how technology can be misused for criminal purposes by unscrupulous people.

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