Two people from India, who allegedly conspired to smuggle illegal immigrants from the country to the United States, were arrested last week on their arrival at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and charged with conspiracy to bring foreign nationals into the U.S. for financial gains.
Authorities said in a press release that Nilesh Kumar Patel, 41, and Harsad Mehta, 65, both of India, allegedly ran a smuggling operation and were trying to find methods to illegally smuggle foreign nationals from India into the U.S.
Both were arrested Oct. 21 on their arrival at the airport by special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, who announced the Oct. 21 arrest of the duo, said that investigations revealed that a smuggling organization recruited Indian nationals and others to pay fees in exchange for passage to the United States.
Patel, 41 and Mehta were charged by criminal complaint with one count of conspiracy to bring in and harbor aliens. In addition, Patel was charged with six counts and Mehta is charged with four counts of smuggling foreign nationals into the U.S. for private financial gain.
According to the complaint, beginning in April 2014, an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a smuggler began meeting with Patel and Mehta in Bangkok, Thailand. Patel and Mehta said that they were involved in the smuggling business and had multiple Indian nationals that they were looking to smuggle into the U.S. Mehta and Patel agreed to transport the Indian nationals from India to Thailand, at which point the undercover law enforcement officer would presumably use contacts to smuggle them into the U.S. via commercial airline flights.
Patel and Mehta agreed to wire a $10,000 down payment for each individual to be smuggled into the United States and to pay a balance of tens of thousands of dollars for each individual once the foreign nationals arrived in the U.S.
Over the ensuing months, Patel and Mehta arranged for six Indian nationals to be brought to Thailand for smuggling into the U.S. via Newark Liberty International Airport.
The conspiracy charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison. Each substantive charge of smuggling carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison.
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