Two youngsters, one from Punjab and the other from Haryana, have been killed in Guatemala while attempting to illegally make their way into the United States. They used the dangerous, illegal route known as “dunki” in search of employment for a better life, only to fall into the hands of human smugglers in Guatemala who demanded ransom. Their families said the traffickers killed them after getting the money.
The identities of the two youths were disclosed as Saheb Singh, 21, from Hoshiarpur in Punjab, and Yuvraj Singh, 18, from Kaithal in Haryana. They both started this journey on 13th October 2024. Yuvraj had just finished his 12th-grade exams and was eager to help his family. Saheb was the only son of his parents and also hoped to support his family by working in the US.
This “dunki” route is a illegal path that is extremely risky. People taking it often fly to countries like Dubai or Turkey, and then travel through several Central American countries like Guatemala and Mexico, trying to cross into the US. Criminal gangs are known to operate all along this route. Both Saheb and Yuvraj were kidnapped by one of these gangs in Guatemala around December 2024.
Soon after, their families started receiving horrifying messages. The traffickers, also called “donkers,” sent videos showing the young men being beaten and tortured. They kept demanding more and more money to let them go.
Saheb’s family now believes that many of these videos were pre-recorded. They think the traffickers kept sending the old clips to trick them out of more money, even though they were likely killed months earlier, around March 2025.
The families paid huge amounts of money, losing everything. Saheb’s father, Sucha Singh, is a small farmer. He sold 2.5 acres of his land, his livestock, and even his wife’s jewellery to pay the agents. In total, he paid around Rs 49 lakh. Yuvraj’s family also spent between Rs 40 and Rs 50 lakh, selling jewellery and taking out massive loans. They first paid travel agents in Haryana, and then paid ransom money to the kidnappers.
Yuvraj’s family said they gave an extra Rs 8 lakh in ransom money to their local agents in Haryana, who were supposed to send it to the kidnappers. The family now believes those agents never actually sent the money. Yuvraj’s family filed a complaint against three of these local agents, who were later arrested. However, this also meant the family lost all contact with the people holding Yuvraj.
The families finally learned the terrible news in the worst way possible. Yuvraj’s family was contacted by another agent who identified himself as Nepali, demanded $5,000 just for information. After they sent him $1,500, he told them the boys were already dead. He then demanded another $1,000 to send proof, and then he sent photos of their bodies and death certificates.
Saheb’s family found out the truth when relatives managed to get a hospital certificate from Mexico that had a photo of Saheb’s body.
Now, the devastated families are left with nothing. They’ve lost their sons, their money, and their land. Yuvraj’s uncle said they couldn’t even get his body back for the last rites. Saheb’s father is pleading for help from the government to get an official death record from Mexico and wants to see strict action taken against the agents who cheated them.
