Aircraft carried 303 Indian passengers and was to connect the United Arab Emirates with Nicaragua has been stuck since Thursday in France due to “suspicion of human trafficking”, announced today the services of the state and the prosecutor’s office of Paris, which began the investigation.

This arrest follows “an anonymous warning” according to which this aircraft was “carrying Indian passengers who may be victims of human trafficking”, the prosecution underlined.

According to a source close to the case, who clarified that the plane stopped in France to refuel, these Indian passengers may have wanted to go to Central America to then attempt to enter the United States and Canada illegally.

An investigation is underway “to ascertain whether evidence will confirm the suspicion of human trafficking in an organized gang, a crime punishable by 20 years in prison and a fine of three million euros,” the prosecutor’s office added.

“Hearings and verification of the conditions and objectives of the passengers’ transport” are ongoing, the prosecution clarifies.

The department of Marne, in northeastern France, said that this flight, of the Romanian company Legend Airlines, “remains stuck on the tarmac of Batri airport after it landed on Thursday afternoon” and the intervention of the aviation gendarmerie on the aircraft.

The prefecture confirmed to AFP that the aircraft remains grounded this afternoon.