Indian-origin 'Dirty Harry' arrested in Chicago for 2022 human trafficking case

Harshkumar Patel, an Indian-origin person, also known as 'Dirty Harry', has been arrested in Chicago by US authorities. Patel is a primary suspect in the 2022 human trafficking case where four members of a family from Gujarat, India, lost their lives while being smuggled into the US via Canada.

The victims were discovered frozen near Emerson, Manitoba, approximately 12 metres from the Canada-US border. Patel was apprehended at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, as per reports by the Canadian Broadcast Corporation News' Fifth Estate segment.

He is charged with 'transportation of illegal alien and conspiracy to bring and attempt to bring an illegal alien to the United States'. The court hearing is scheduled for February 28, with a potential transfer to Minnesota. Court documents reveal Patel's involvement in an organised human smuggling group.

It was also disclosed that Patel was in contact with Steve Shand, arrested on January 19, 2022, while transporting seven individuals, including the four victims, near the US border. Shand is linked to five similar cases between December 2021 and January 2022, all under the direction of Patel, who uses various aliases.

WhatsApp exchanges and financial transactions between Patel and Shand have been unveiled by US Authorities, shedding light on the international human smuggling racket originating from Gujarat. Other key players in the case, Fenil Patel in Canada and Bittu Singh in the US, were identified prior to Patel's arrest.

Court documents disclose that Patel supplied Shand with route maps for transporting illegal migrants from the Canada-US border. Shand's jury trial is set to commence in Minnesota in March.