Promising jobs abroad: FIA busts gang of human traffickers

Gang members used a forged UN letter to lure victims

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency on Sunday arrested three members of a human trafficking ring who were fleecing their victims through the use of a forged UN letterhead.

Three members of the trafficking ring identified as Iqbal Hussain, Safdar and Babur forged a UN letter that purportedly mentioned demand for various skilled workers, according to FIA officials.

The three men were nabbed in a raid carried out by the agency following a series of complaints filed by several victims.

Their victims told the FIA officials that the gang members were charging as much as Rs800,000 for a ‘UN visa’ to Ethiopia.

According to the authorities, the FIA team caught one of the men, Babur from Rawalpindi with four passports. Fake letterheads were also seized from his possession.

During initial interrogation, Babur disclosed the whereabouts of his other accomplices. Two of his accomplices Iqbal Hussain and Safdar were arrested from Haripur and Lahore, respectively.

The gang members lured potential victims by showing them fake UN letterheads, duping them into believing they were getting ‘genuine’ job opportunities abroad. Their potential victims include drivers, operators, agriculture labour, masons, steel fixers, plumbers, mechanics, operators, auto electricians, security guards and store keepers who were ‘offered’ three-year job contracts in Ethiopia.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2016.