Two detained after French police ground aeroplane suspected of human trafficking

French police have arrested two people after grounding a flight carrying about 300 Indian citizens, including 13 unaccompanied minors, the authorities said.

The Airbus A340 flying from the United Arab Emirates headed to South America landed on Thursday at Vatry airport in eastern France for a technical stopover.

It was held by French authorities after an anonymous tip-off that it was carrying passengers “likely to be victims of human trafficking,” the Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP. The two men in custody were among the passengers.

The 15 crew members of the Legend Airlines charter flight — en route from Fujairah airport to the capital of Nicaragua, Managua — were questioned and released, according to a lawyer for the Romania-based airline. She said they are deeply shaken by what happened.

The prosecutor’s office said identity checks were being carried out on all 303 passengers. They were also checking the conditions in which the passengers were being transported and the purpose of their journey.

The national anti-organised crime unit JUNALCO is leading the investigation, said prosecutors.

According to a source familiar with the case, the passengers might have planned to travel to Central America to attempt illegal entry into the US or Canada.

After landing in France, they were first kept on the aircraft, but were then allowed to leave the aeroplane and provided with individual beds in the terminal building.

They were set to remain at the airport overnight Friday, local authorities said.

The Indian embassy in France said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that the authorities in Paris had informed them of the situation.

Liliana Bakayoko, who said she was a lawyer for the airline, told AFP the company believed it had done nothing wrong, had committed no offence “and is at the disposal of the French authorities”.

Human trafficking carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in France.