A piece of mishandled baggage at the Delhi airport helped Customs officials uncover a human trafficking racket. Officials found 105 passports of Indian nationals in the bag.

The tag on the bag indicated that it belonged to a Gujarat resident who had landed in Delhi by a Turkish Airways flight on Monday evening.

Initial investigations suggest a human trafficking racket of taking labourers abroad and bringing the passports back. This person could be an agent. He hasnt returned to the airport to claim his lost belongings, though the Customs department has sent him summons to this effect, a source said.

The Customs department has booked a case under Section 111 of the Customs Act, pertaining to confiscation of prohibited goods. Other peoples passport is not a private item, it is prohibited, the official said.

After preliminary investigations, officials said the case would be handed over to the Delhi Police for further probe.

On October 23, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) had uncovered a human trafficking racket, in which an Amritsar-bound passenger was found carrying fake immigration seals. Three persons were arrested in this regard, after CISF found the fake seals during security check.

Also, in April, an immigration officer posted at Terminal 3 of the IGI Airport was arrested along with a Jet Airways employee for allegedly running a human trafficking racket. Later, a lookout circular was issued to trace a Delhi Police constable who was allegedly operating as the main conduit between an agent from Gujarat, the immigration official and the airline employee posted at the airport in the racket.