Indian national arrested for conspiracy to smuggle foreigners into the U.S.

An Indian national is accused of conspiring to smuggle foreigners into the United States on commercial airline flights.

Bhavin Patel, 38, of India, was arrested by federal authorities at Newark Liberty International Airport Friday. He is charged with one count of conspiracy to harbor aliens and six counts of smuggling foreign nationals into the United States for private financial gain.

Patel is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Dec. 18.

According to prosecutors in the case, Homeland Security learned that a smuggling operation run by Patel was trying to find methods to illegally smuggle foreign nationals from India into the United States.

The investigation revealed the smuggling organization recruited Indian nationals and others to pay fees in exchange for passage into the U.S.

Beginning in October 2013, an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a smuggler began meeting with Patel in Bangkok, Thailand, prosecutors say.

Patel told the undercover officer he wanted to smuggle Indian nationals into the U.S., and on three occasions, Patel or his conspirator transported the Indian nationals to an airport in Thailand.

The indictment charging Patel says he or his conspirator — identified as Atulbhai Patel — paid an undercover agent $245,000 to have six foreign nationals smuggled from Thailand into the U.S. via Newark Liberty International Airport.