It has been two days since the device has moved. A plane coming from Dubai to Nicaragua has been stuck on the ground since Thursday at Vatry airport (Marne), with 303 Indian passengers on board. French authorities suspect human trafficking. We recap the latest events.
What is this plane ?
This is an Airbus A340 from the Romanian company Legend Airlines. It has been immobilized since Thursday afternoon at Vatry airport (Marne), 150 km east of Paris, where it was initially only supposed to make a technical stopover. The plane was on a long-haul flight from Dubai to Managua, Nicaragua.
Who was on board?
There were 303 passengers on board, Indians. According to a source close to the matter, most of them could be people who worked in the United Arab Emirates. “There are 13 unaccompanied minors, as well as accompanied minors,” said civil protection, specifying that the age of these minors ranged “from a 21-month-old baby to a 17-year-old teenager.” This figure of 13 unaccompanied minors has not been confirmed by the authorities.
Furthermore, the crew of the aircraft was made up of a total of around thirty people: 15 for the Dubai-Vatry route and 14 or 15 for the Vatry-Managua route.
What do the authorities suspect?
An “anonymous report” reported possible human trafficking, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. The investigation, carried out by the National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organized Crime (Junalco), aims to “verify whether any elements would corroborate” these suspicions.
Still according to a source close to the matter, passengers could have planned to go to Central America in order to then try to enter the United States or Canada illegally.
Where are the passengers and crew?
Tarpaulins have been installed in front of the bay windows of the airport reception hall. This is where the passengers are now. They have, according to the prefecture, “individual beds”. The civil protection of the Marne has also deployed showers and mobilized around ten volunteers, who take turns to accompany the passengers. Access remains blocked by the police and gendarmerie.
The law provides that if he arrives in France by plane and is refused boarding to his country of destination, a foreigner can be kept in a waiting zone for a maximum of four days by the border police.
Furthermore “All members of the crew were interviewed and authorized to leave freely, and to return home if they wish,” Liliana Bakayoko, who presents herself as the lawyer of the airline company.
Have people been arrested?
Two of the passengers on this flight were in police custody on Friday evening. The National Directorate of Border Police (notably Oltim, Office for Combating Smuggling of Migrants), the Air Transport Gendarmerie and the Vitry-le-François search brigade were jointly seized, says the prosecution .
Human trafficking is a crime punishable by twenty years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of 3 million euros.