India’s Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday searched 11 premises across Punjab and Haryana as part of its money-laundering investigation into the so-called “Donkey Route” human-trafficking network that ferried Indian migrants to the United States through a string of illegal border crossings. Locations in Amritsar, Sangrur, Patiala and Moga in Punjab, and Ambala, Kurukshetra and Karnal in Haryana were raided by officials from the agency’s Jalandhar zonal office. The probe stems from 17 first-information reports filed by state police against travel and visa agents accused of duping would-be migrants. Investigators say the agents collected about ₹45–50 lakh per person by promising legitimate visas but instead dispatched clients on risky overland journeys organised by traffickers, or “donkers,” culminating in their deportation from the United States in February. Statements from several deportees helped identify additional suspects now under scrutiny.