Improved performance: Anti-Human Trafficking Cell nabs seven suspects

One of the accused was allegedly involved in arranging South Korean employment visas for Rs800,000

KARACHI: The Anti-Human Trafficking Cell (AHTC) of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Sindh, claimed that it has apprehended seven suspects including human smugglers, aliens, agents and court absconders during raids in the last 10 days.

This was revealed by FIA Sindh deputy director Ashfaq Alam during a press conference at the agency's Saddar office on Sunday. Alam said that the AHTC arrested agent Sohail Akhtar, who was allegedly involved in arranging South Korean employment visas for Rs800,000, during a raid. They also seized 18 passports and other documentary evidence. On information provided by Akhtar, his accomplice Syed Mohammad Ahmed was also arrested.



According to Alam, the FIA also arrested Zamir Ahmed, an agent allegedly involved in making passports for non-Pakistanis with the help of Liaquat Ali, a retired superintendent from the passport office in Saddar. He said that they had also apprehended two absconders, identified as Jameel Mangrio and Muhammad Arshad, along with suspect Ahsanullah, an Afghan.

"Human smuggling has become a multibillion dollar business," he said, adding that corrupt officials within the government, including the passport department of the interior ministry and the National Database and Registration Authority, were involved in making passports and identity cards for aliens. "One of those arrested [Ali] tried to bribe one of our investigating officers with Rs500,000 in exchange for overlooking his name, which shows the extent of the business."

The AHTC had shown poor performance in the last 11 months, having failed to arrest even a single suspect in this period. Alam, however, said that they were focusing on improving the cell as well as the overall image of the agency. "We are revamping this cell and plan to renovate the office," he said. "We are short of human resources in the AHTC but we are taking this as a challenge and will return positive results and better performance."

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2014.