FIA arrests five more in human trafficking case

The anti-human trafficking circle of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Rawalpindi arrested five more alleged human traffickers on Sunday as part of the nationwide crackdown launched in the wake of the Greece boat tragedy.

At least 750 people – half of them Pakistanis – were believed to be on board a fishing trawler carrying illegal migrants to Italy capsized off the coast of Greece on June 14. Only 104 people, including 12 Pakistanis survived. A couple of days later, the prime minister ordered a crackdown against networks involved in smugglers, with the interior minister overseeing the investigation.

So far, at least 29 people have been arrested and 71 cases registered against men who charged as much as Rs3 million while promising to get people to Europe.

The investigation is being led by FIA Islamabad zone. As part of the investigation, the Rawalpind FIA conducted raids in Jhang, Kallar Syedan and Peshawar.

It said six men, identified as Tanveer Ahmed, Muhammad Yousuf, Junaid Mehmood, Muhammad Islam, Haider Ali and Doran Khan, were arrested for taking money from people to send them to Europe illegally.

Meanwhile, authorities continue to collect DNA samples of the families of the 193 people missing in the wake of the tragedy to ascertain their identities.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2023.